Honor Among Pirates
by Shiningheart of ThunderClan
Summary: "Wait, Trafalgar Law? Surgeon of Death? The Dark Doctor? THAT Trafalgar Law?" "The very same, Miss." "Great. I owe my life to a sadistic psychopath." Eventual Law/OC.
1. The Rescue

Disclaimer: Shiningheart of ThunderClan does not own One Piece. Oda does. The lucky bastard.

Chapter 1: The Rescue

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Everything hurt. Her ribs, her arms, her legs, her face, even her hair. Don't ask how her hair hurt; maybe it was her scalp instead. All she knew was that, each time her hair was touched, be it being pulled by those damnable marines or just her moving it away from her face, it hurt. All of the pain just hazed together so that she had no idea what hurt more than anything else. A gasp left her broken and bloodied lips as a fist collided with her side, and she felt yet another crack echo through her body. Another rib fractured, another beating session for Nadeen. She didn't even know what the stupid Navy wanted. They weren't asking her questions, they weren't gaining anything from this. They were just bloodthirsty fools that wanted her to suffer because she called herself a pirate.

Despite this, Nadeen formed a smirk on her mouth and looked up at the shadowed face of the marine beating her this time. "That all you got?" she rasped, coughing up blood. Still, that smirk stayed. "My grandmother hit harder than you." A growl was her reward for her smart mouth, as well as another shot to the stomach. Another spurt of blood flew from her lips, hitting her assaulter square in the face. Her body sagged as she coughed, clearing her lungs of the foul fluid that threatened to suffocate her from the inside, but the ropes kept her up.

The marine wiped her blood off of his cheek, scowling in disgust. Whether the disgust was for her or her blood, Nadeen didn't really know or care. He turned and left without a word, leaving her hanging from the pipes of her cell. They always did this. Came in, tied her up, beat her, and leave. All without a single word. Whoever brought her next meal would untie her. Not that it was much of a meal. Bread and water. Just enough to survive.

Speak of the devil! A man entered the cell with a tray. Despite herself, Nadeen felt her belly rumble with hunger. The marine smirked evilly and set the tray down, reaching up to undo the ropes binding her up. Nadeen resisted the urge to kick him while he was so close. She'd tried it already, from the first few beatings three weeks ago. All that had earned her was another beating and her food taken away until the next day.

The second her ropes were gone, she sagged against the marine until all of her weight was on him. He pushed her away with a sneer, like she was trash, and she fell against the wall, sliding down until she was sitting on the floor. Her body wouldn't hold out on this torture much longer. But she refused to give in. Nadeen smirked up at him, giving a cheeky little wink. The marine used his foot to slide the tray over to her. She didn't scramble up for it like other prisoners might. Instead, she just pulled it closer to her while keeping her eyes on the marine.

Like the others before him, he left without a word. She knew he'd wait outside for a total of three minutes before coming to take the tray and cup of water away, whether she was done with it or not. At first they'd waited inside of the cell, probably hoping to see her desperation for food. But Nadeen had pride, and never acted like she'd been a prisoner for the better part of a month. She picked at her food daintily, knowing full-well that she'd barf it all back up if she ate too quickly.

That's what she did now. She tore the single slice of bread into little strips before eating them so that she didn't accidentally overload her stomach. She did the same with her water, only taking sips. Three minutes on the dot later, the marine came back in and took it. Nadeen allowed him to and slumped back against the wall, closing her eyes and letting the darkness sweep her into sleep. She had no reason to stay awake, so why not pass the time?

Barely an hour passed before the ship she was on swayed, jolting her awake with a cry. "What the hell?!" she yelled to herself. The redhead stood up, but her strength failed her and she only fell down. But she wouldn't be defeated, especially by her own flesh and bone! By the time she stood fully, her breath was only coming in short pants. Two sets of hurried footsteps echoed down the hallway, and Nadeen pushed herself to the bars of her cell. "Hey, what's going on?!"

The footsteps paused before coming closer. When they came into view, she barely kept from gaping. The first one to catch her attention was the polar bear. At first, she thought her eyes were deceiving her. The bear stood taller than her on her tiptoes, and walked on two legs like a human. He wore an orange jumpsuit that had a circular symbol on the chest, though I couldn't see it. He had beady black eyes that blinked at her in intelligent curiosity, and tilted his head to the side in a way that made her inner girl squeal in delight. She knew he was a real bear too, not just a zoan user or a man in a suit. She didn't know how she knew it, but she could sense it.

The other one was an actual man. He wore a jumpsuit like the polar bear, but his was white and baggier. More of a boiler suit, actually, than a jumpsuit. She couldn't see much of his features in the darkness, but she saw enough of his hat to wonder about his fashion sense. It was mostly a dark gray in color, but the bill that shadowed over his face was a bright white. There was a red puffball on top of his head, and the word PENGUIN was printed onto it. It was the penguin-capped one to speak first. "Wow, you don't look too good..." Nadeen raised an eyebrow at him, and he seemed to come to the conclusion that his words might have been taken the wrong way. "N-not that you aren't pretty, of course! I mean, even with all the bruises and cuts on your face and body, you're still quite gorgeous!"

Nadeen decided to not mention his awkward compliment and instead said, "As much as that warms my heart, it doesn't answer my question. Who are you guys? Did you attack the ship? And can you let me out?"

The bear nodded his head enthusiastically. "I'm Bepo, this is Penguin!" He clapped his companion on the back and accidentally smashed this 'Penguin' man into the wall. "Our captain and crewmates are topside, fighting the marines as we speak. Captain told Penguin and I to search the ship for supplies before we sink it. We can free you, but then we really do need to hurry up. Captain only gave us ten minutes, and Captain doesn't like to be kept waiting!"

Penguin rolled his shoulders back and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yikes, that hurt... You should learn to control your strength, Bepo!" The polar bear suddenly got a black cloud over his head and sulked, mumbling an apology. Both Nadeen and Penguin grew sweat-drops at the bear's sudden depression before turning back to the main conversation. "Anyway, what's your name? We can get you out, but then we still need to find food and medical supplies."

The prisoner nodded in understanding and stuck out a hand between the bars, or as well as she could with still being hand-cuffed. "Nadeen. I can show you where the infirmary is, but that's about it. They don't exactly give prisoners the grand tour. The only reason I know where they keep their doctor shit is because I was in too bad of a condition when they first brought me in. And we'll also need to get these off." She rattled her handcuffs for emphasis. "I can't help you guys fight your way out with seastone attached to me."

The two males exchanged unreadable looks and nodded. Penguin stepped back from the bars while Bepo stepped forward. In an impressive show of strength, he bent the bars into a small diamond sort of shape. It was just big enough for Nadeem to slide herself through. She didn't let herself relish the freedom, though; there was always the possibility of marines recapturing her, or these men- pirates, if she understood Bepo's talking of a captain- would take her hostage to get away. Of course, there's also the very real probability of the marines shooting all of them dead even if they did take her hostage.

All of these thoughts wandered at their own leisure through her head as she led Penguin and Bepo further through the ship. By the time she pulled herself from her thoughts, they'd already stopped. Penguin and Bepo were going through the cabinets and pulling out crates of things. To Nadeen's delight, she even found a fruit basket which she devoured with the kind of animalistic decorum that she'd lacked these past few weeks. Penguin and Bepo stopped what they were doing and watched her with wide-eyed shock. "... What the hell were these damn bastards feeding you?" Penguin asked in astonishment. "I've never seen anyone that desperate to eat fruit. Meat, hell yeah, but not fruit."

Nadeen stopped her feeding frenzy to give the pirates a sheepish smile, her eyes closed so she couldn't see their expressions. "Well, actually, they haven't really been feeding me. Only a slice of bread and half-a-cup of water each day." Their jaws dropped as much as gravity and physics would allow, and Nadeen chewed her bite of apple a little more slowly. "Hey, while we're here, do you think we could look for a scalpel or a paperclip or something to pick the lock?" She raised her arms to remind them, once again, of her limitations.

Bepo blinked his beady little eyes and questioned, "Why? Wouldn't the keys be better?" He pointed to a ring of keys that Nadeen had completely missed, causing her to face-palm herself as best she could. Bepo once again got the black cloud of depression. "Sorry!"

Penguin groaned dramatically and said, "Stop apologizing!", even as he took the ring of keys. "We don't even know if the key to her cuffs are on here. Why would a doctor have something to unlock a prisoner?" He was cut off at the thud of her bindings falling off. The very first key he tried worked. The two pirates blinked at the handcuffs on the ground while Nadeen took a deep breath, already feeling the effects of being freed from seastone. "... Huh... Guess it's my turn to apologize, huh Bepo?"

The woman gave a predatorial smile. Combined with her haggard appearance, the expression appeared quite feral. A lesser man and bear would have quivered, but they were far too used to their captain's menacing smiles to bother much with hers. Her hair and clothes seemed to stir in a nonexistent breeze. "If you boys are done, let's go hunt some marines!"

SECTION BREAK BECAUSE IT WON'T  
LET ME USE HYPHENS TO SEPARATE

Law chopped another marine to bits. He was covered in blood, but none of it was his own. Everywhere he turned, there seemed to be another marine after his head, another opponent to slaughter, another idiot to challenge him. Really, they'd been in the Grand Line for only a few short weeks and he'd already made himself a reputation. 'Surgeon of Death', they called him. The pirate captain felt a thrill every time he thought about it.

But this was getting tiresome, and he was quite reluctant to admit his own movements were starting to slow down. His crewmates were fighting beside him, as always, and yet he alone was unharmed. Shachi was already slumping down beside him. On hindsight, it probably hadn't been a good idea to separate him and Penguin. They always seemed to do better when they had each other to compete with. Law took great precautions to not examine the dynamics of their relationship too closely, lest he traumatize himself. Which would be ironic, considering all of the things he's already done...

_'Dammit, Trafalgar, stop distracting yourself!'_ he growled mentally, ducking below a sword before dismembering the arm attached to it. He was sprayed with another splash of blood, and paused for a precious moment to wipe his face clean with his hoodie's sleeve. "Dammit, where the hell are Penguin and Bepo? I sent them off close to a half-an-hour ago, and they're still down below!" Below the frustrated tone, there was concern. Had they been attacked? Were they dying now, suffering and in pain, while he berated their lateness? He'd never forgive himself if he sent two of his oldest and closest friends into a trap.

A crewmate of his stumbled next to him, and Law glanced over to see who it was. He could barely see the pale skin through the amount of blood on him, but the braided blond hair and dark green eyes were able to identify him as Derek, a usually competent fighter and one of his best. The fact that he had a slash in his side that he subconsciously noted would need stitches didn't help his worry. "Captain, as much as I don't want to say this, I'm not sure this was such a great idea."

Law snorted and brought his nodachi in a full circle, chopping distant marines into bloodless little bits. That was one of the things he wished was different about his devil fruit; he had an almost unhealthy fondness of watching the blood of his enemies spill. "You don't say, Derek?" Even with the battle wearing down on him, he kept his voice calm and slightly amused. If his crew knew even he was having problems keeping up... Well, let's just say the shit would hit the fan. "And here I thought we were having a grand ol' time."

Derek flashed his captain a look that spoke volumes of what he thought of his mental state. Law just gave a sadistic smile that looked even creepier with the blood on his face. Another wave of marines ran towards them and Law got himself ready when something happened that he hadn't anticipated. The marines all stopped suddenly and made jerkish motions with their limbs. They all started floating tail-end up, like they had hooks caught onto their navels.

The Heart Pirates all looked to their captain to see if he was doing this, but for once Trafalgar Law was as clueless as his crew. Strangely enough, though, the marines seemed to have a pretty good idea on what was happening. The ones not caught in the air were visibly shivering and meeting each other's fearful gazes. One marine gave a whisper that seemed to travel through the air like the loudest yell, "She's escaped... The Demon Gale has escaped..."

"Captain!" Law snapped his head to the side at the familiar voice of his first mate. In a rare moment of true confusion, he blinked. He'd sent two down and three come up. How did that work? Well, he obviously KNEW how it worked, but where had the third one come from? The Dark Doctor took a moment to study the new arrival, and the first things he took note of came almost subconsciously from his medical teachings.

She was almost nauseatingly malnourished. Her cheeks and eyes were sunken in and her arms, held up towards the marines, whereas thin and brittle as sticks. There was no muscle or fat to them, or the rest of her. Her shirt, which would normally be form-fitting, hung off her frame like a rag. Her dark ginger hair is cut close to her scalp, but the jagged look said it wasn't a voluntary cut. Multiple bruising and lacerations littered her body, and she looked like the effort of holding her hand up to keep the marines floating was enough to make her collapse.

Despite her haggard looking appearance, it was her eyes that quickly caught his interest. Not the color, though the dark shade of blue was quite lovely. She had fire in her, determination and pride that spoke volumes of just how much a pain in the ass she was going to become. And yet Law found himself to be slightly impressed. Even though she showed clear signs of captivity, she wasn't hiding. She was up here, ready to fight.

Or maybe not. The longer she held up the marines, the more her body shook until she was sagging against Bepo and the paler her skin became. When she called to the pirates, her voice rasped with the strain. "I can't hold them up much longer, you guys. Shall I send them overboard, or would you like to kill them yourselves?"

Law's answer was quick. He didn't have the energy to deal with them himself. "Overboard, if you'd please, Miss." With a grunt and a wave of her arm, the screaming marines were blasted over the edge of the deck. The moment the last guy was gone, her legs collapsed and Bepo caught her. With an entire third of their men gone, the marines quickly lost steam. It didn't take too much longer to defeat them with the added fresh assistance of the kung-fu polar bear and one of the head mechanics.

The captain took stock of his crewmates first. Aside from Derek's side, there weren't any serious injuries. He instructed him to put on pressure to stop the bleeding and went to check on the woman. Bepo and Penguin hadn't left her side the entire time, protecting her from any marines that tried to get at her. The scene he found entertained him greatly. Penguin and the woman were bantering back and forth, slight smiles on their faces, while Bepo sat to the side with his classic depression cloud over his face. He listened for a little bit to get the gist of the situation.

The woman, it seemed, had mentioned that Bepo did well for a bear. That had caused the cloud. When she'd apologized, Penguin had mentioned that he did this often. Now it seemed that the mechanic was telling stories about Bepo's sensitivity, causing even further depression. Law interrupted by clearing his throat, and Penguin immediately cut off his sentence to salute at his captain. Bepo stood as well, though his salute was less enthusiastic. The woman couldn't really stand, though she gave it a good effort. She got up on her feet before falling back. "Um... I'd stand and salute too, but..." She shrugged instead of finishing, smiling sheepishly.

Law waved his hand to the other two, letting them relax their stances, and crouched next to her. "I'd like to ask some question, miss, if that's alright with you." Not like she got a choice, but it was only polite to ask. She raised an eyebrow at him, like she knew that she didn't have a choice, but nodded anyway. "First question, miss. What's your name?"

She took a long moment before answering. Why, Law wasn't sure of. Maybe she really didn't remember her name. Some people have been in slavery or captivity for so long that they lose any memory of it. It would explain her appearance, at the least. The woman finally sighed and said, "Nadeen. Just Nadeen. You have about as much of an idea of my last name as I do."

The pirate captain gave a frown at the lack of information, but let it pass. He'd find out eventually if she was lying, and the consequences wouldn't be pretty. He felt the need to tell her this and did so. "If you're lying, Miss Nadeen, then I will find out. And you won't enjoy what comes after." She gave him another smile, but didn't answer. Law continued with his next question. "Second. Why were you with my crewmates?"

Nadeen didn't take as long to answer this time. Just long enough to think over her words. "I offered my help in finding supplies and they let me out of my cell. There are medical supplies and food supplies just beyond those stairs, since that's what they said you needed the most." Law followed her line of view and saw an open door with stairs leading below.

He nodded in understanding before turning to her. Then he just crouched there, looking at her. This was the patience/pressure test. If she got squirmy waiting for him to speak, she wouldn't be of any interest. He'd heal her and she'd be on her way. And if she took the initiative and asked her own question, he'd answer like a gentleman. But she didn't do either. She just sat there and stared back at him. For five whole minutes, they watched each other. He could tell the rest of his crew was getting antsy, but she sat perfectly still. Law felt a smirk curl onto his mouth and he suddenly stood back up, turning to his men. "Men, fetch the supplies and get ready to sink the ship. Derek, Shachi, bring Miss Nadeen to the infirmary. I'll fix you up before I look after her."

Derek and Shachi came over and introduced themselves. Shachi, being the less-hurt one, picked Nadeen up in his arms. She looked for a moment like she would protest, that same look of defiant pride from before across her face. But then she sighed and relaxed in Shachi's arms. _'Probably realized her situation.'_ Law thought, amused. As the two were walking away, however, she suddenly stretched herself to see over his shoulder and called, "Hey, you never told me your name!"

It wasn't every day that Law met someone who didn't know who he was, and the idea brought him satisfaction that he could traumatize a new person. "Trafalgar Law, Miss Nadeen."

Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped a little in shock. Law took great pleasure in the look before she repeated back, "Wait, Trafalgar Law? Surgeon of Death? The Dark Doctor? _That_ Trafalgar Law?" At his nod, she groaned loudly and smacked her forehead against Shachi's shoulder. The mechanics were far enough away not that he could only just hear afterwards, "Great, I owe my life to a sadistic psychopath..."

Law chuckled to himself. Life with the Heart Pirates was about to get interesting. Very interesting indeed.

* * *

WORDS: 3759

PAGES: 7

Me: So, I've been obsessed with Law lately. Whenever I get obsessed with something, I start fanfictions for it. And this is the end product. I hope you liked it! If not, tell me what I can do to make it better. I make no promises as to when I'm going to update again.


	2. Life Debt or Eternal Servitude?

Disclaimer: Shiningheart of ThunderClan only owns Nadeen and Derek. Any other OCs that randomly pop up too. Oda owns One Piece and Trafalgar Law. Good thing too, or else Law would live in my basement and never see the light of day. XD

-PAGE-BREAK-

Chapter 2: Life Debt or Eternal Servitude?

Nadeen observed Trafalgar Law as he went about disinfecting and sewing up his subordinate's wound. His hands were quick and confident, yet at the same time gentle. He was taking great care to not cause this Derek person any more pain than he was already in. She didn't try to hide her observation either. Why bother when he'd probably know anyway? The other man that had brought her down, Shachi, only had a few nicks and scratches that even someone without medical knowledge could fix. So Law had literally thrown bandages and ointment at him, ordering him to clean himself up. Shachi didn't act like this was any different than usual, so Nadeen didn't react to it either.

Instead, Nadeen observed the room she was in. She probably wasn't the best person to judge, considering she didn't spend much time in medical areas, but this one looked fairly big and well-maintained. There were four single beds all pressed against one side, one of which she was occupying, while the other had bolted-down cabinets. The lights were controlled by a dial near the door so the brightness wasn't at any one setting, which was something Nadeen imagined was more for the comfort of the patients than the efficiency of the medical team. Though so far, Law was the only doctor she'd met on the giant yellow totally-not-conspicuous-at-all submarine...

She was pulled from her thoughts when the Surgeon of Death himself plopped gracelessly on the bed she was lying on. He would have sat on her hand if she hadn't jerked it away in time. He noticed and nodded, seemingly satisfied. "Reflexes are still good. You couldn't have been with the marines for more than a month if your motor skills are still intact."

There was an unasked question lying beneath the words, and Nadeen answered while he shined a light into her eyes. "Just that, actually. Three weeks ago was when they found me in a boat, without supplies and lost. Some stupid bird had taken my log pose while I was sleeping. Why? I've no bloody clue." She shrugged her shoulders for emphasis, wincing in discomfort when her skin rubbed against her bones. "If it was me, though, I'd take it for the shininess."

Law snorted at her words, setting up a machine that looked way too complicated to Nadeen. Complicated things meant they were expensive, and expensive things tended to not mix well with her. She tried to inch away from it subtly, but nothing could escape the eagle eye of Trafalgar Law! He raised an eyebrow at her and said, "You're not afraid of needles, are you? I need to put in some IVs to get nutrients back into your body." She knew her blush was showing because of how pale her skin was at the moment and shook her head slowly, trying not to make herself dizzy. His mouth quirked into a smirk. "Then why ever are you inching away? You're not afraid of me, are you?"

Nadeen actually took a moment to think over her feelings. She thought of all the rumors of him she'd heard on the last island, two or three weeks even before the marines had found her. Law hadn't even entered the Grand Line, but civilians had whispered tales of his cruelty and sadism and some were even afraid to speak his name. It was with surprise that she repeated her action of shaking her head slowly, frowning at her blanket in thoughtful curiosity. "You're a sadistic psychopath that enjoys his enemy's blood way too much, you experiment on innocent civilians if you have anything medical you want to test, and the last island I was on was too afraid to even say your real name, and just referred to you as the Dark Doctor or Surgeon of Death.

"But," and here is where she lifted her head to meet his surprised gaze, "but if you were planning on hurting me, then I wouldn't be here. You would have just left me there on that ship to meet the same fate as those marines. You wouldn't be wasting your supplies, which I know are already low, on an idiot like me who can't navigate worth shit without a stupid little hourglass." Her mouth quirked into a little half-smile. "Don't get me wrong, you're still creepy as fuck. But I guess I'm not as afraid of you as I probably should be."

She gnawed her lip worriedly as the silence grew. Law didn't move, either to put away the needles he'd pulled out or to continue on with what he was doing. He just kept those intense, stormy gray eyes locked onto her dark blue ones. She couldn't decipher what he was thinking, and she was afraid that she'd possibly just destroyed whatever chances she had of surviving with the Heart Pirates. His voice startled her when he spoke. "Stop that. You'll split your lip even more." She was so shocked that not only did she stop chewing her lip, her entire jaw dropped. His smirk grew bigger on his face and he almost teasingly said, "That's even worse. Your mouth with dry out and you'll dehydrate even quicker."

Her teeth clicked together when she closed her mouth and she watched, even more confused, as he went about setting up the equipment. "You... You're not upset that you don't scare me?" He shrugged wordlessly and took her arm to gently stab three different needles into her veins. "W-why?"

Law gave her another amused look and asked, "Would you rather I swing my nodachi at you until you beg for mercy and convince you to be afraid of me?" She shook her head quickly and waved the arm not being held in front of her face, as if to ward off the possibility. Law chuckled at her refusal. "Then stop asking about it. If you're not afraid of me, I'm not going to go out of my way to scare you." Nadeen gave a sigh of relief that Law either didn't hear or chose to ignore. The second one, most likely. "Now, one of these IVs has a sleeping drug in it. You'll be conscious for about another half an hour before you sleep, and I'd like to spend that half-hour furthering my understanding of your... position, so to speak."

Nadeen started to gnaw on her lip again, but a warning look from the pirate captain made her stop. "Um... Would it be best if I started from the beginning?" Law nodded and linked his fingers together to lean his chin on them. His gaze didn't waver away from her, and she fiddled with her blanket to keep from looking into his eyes. "Well, the first thing I feel like I should do is explain just why you have about as much of an idea of my last name as I do." She smiled a bit bitterly at her hands, especially her left one. "Ya' see, the first thing I remember is servitude. Not slavery, because it was illegal where I grew up, but definitely servitude."

She felt Law shift next to her and wondered if what she'd said caused him discomfort. Food for thought later. "The old lady who raised me said I was left on her doorstep in a basket, a note pinned onto me. Not my blanket, not my basket, me." She raised her left hand and flexed it slightly so the pirate captain could see a tiny scar in the space of skin between her thumb and forefinger. "The note said that my name was Nadeen and that I was the son of a monster. That was it. As I grew up, I tried to get a better understanding. The old lady, who told me to call her Nana, wasn't much help. There wasn't any woman on the island that had my eyes or hair, and pale skin was so common that it didn't help me. So the genetics solution was out.

"Next, and this was probably just my stupidity, I tried to track down any woman that acted like me. I was a reckless idiot, always striving for fun and adventure. I'd leap off of the nearby cliff if someone dared me to. Just my luck, I was dared to almost every other day." A bark of laughter left her coughing, and Law passed her a full cup of water without a word. She nodded thanks and downed half of it, more to sooth her mouth and throat than necessity. "I couldn't really describe what Nana saw me as. I was treated better than what the other servants got. When they screwed up, they got yelled at and, depending on how big the screw up was, fired. I got scolded and a slap on the wrist, and sometimes I got grounded."

Nadeen yawned slightly, and took a glance at the clock on the wall. Twenty minutes had passed without her noticing, so the drug was only just starting to take effect. She decided to use the short, short version before she passed out. "Long story short, once I was old enough, I decided to leave and try to figure out who my parents are. Been at sea for about five years, ate my devil fruit three years ago. Marines hate me, pirates dislike me, and civilians don't know me well enough to make an honest opinion."

Law was silent for an entire minute as he thought over her words. Through her muddled mind, she discovered that she hadn't really told him all that much. About her Nana, her childhood, and a bit of her public image. Probably nothing he'd be satisfied with. But he was the one who drugged her up, so it wasn't her fault. He sighed a bit and shook his head. "You do realize the odds of finding two specific people in the whole entire world are astronomical, right?" Nadeen gave a small 'mhm' of acknowledgement and cuddled into her pillow. Law actually went as far as to bring her blankets up near her chin, though he didn't tuck her in. 'Ha, it'd probably ruin his image to be seen tucking a patient in...' Nadeen thought with a slight smile. "I just have one question that you didn't answer. Earlier, you said you owed me your life. What did you mean by that?"

She struggled to keep her eyes open and her mind focused, but it was becoming more and more difficult to do. "I already explained how you could have just let me die out there. Benguin and Pepo freed me from my prison, sure, but the ultimate decision was with you. So now I owe you a debt. And that debt will stay with me until I somehow save your life." She gave a slurred laugh and whispered, "Have no idea how 'm gonna do that, though, if ya' toss me away like everyone else does..." And with that, she slept.

* * *

Law stayed in his seat, just watching the woman who'd somehow invaded his submarine. Well, perhaps invaded was too harsh a word. It wasn't an invasion if he invited her onboard. And while he didn't go, "Hey, wanna go for a ride? Hop on board for a dream vacation!", he kind of did invite her, when he told Shachi to take her to the infirmary. And she did bring up a point. Why was he wasting medical supplies on some girl he'd never met before in his life when he knew just how low on them they were?

He almost sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose as the answer came to him. She'd stirred his curiosity. More than one time on the entire journey, from North Blue to where they were now, it had gotten him and his crewmates in trouble. Yeah, they always came out, if not good, then at least better than whatever was trying to hurt or threaten them, but some of the things he put his men through scarred them for life, whether mentally or physically. Derek still sometimes has nightmares of that stampede that nearly killed him...

The captain cursed himself and his damned curiosity to the pits of hell and stood up. He'd come back on her again in two hours. Until then, it was better to lounge and think in his office. He did one more precursory sweep of the infirmary and spared the unconscious female a single look before leaving with the lights off. He wandered the halls aimlessly, passing by random crewmates that called out greetings or reports of the supply movements. Normally Law would have stopped and listened, maybe even helped if he felt so inclined to.

Instead, he passed on by and didn't react to any of them, even when Coryn, the chef, asked loudly what got his panties in a twist. Normally that would have earned either a bashing upside the head with his nodachi or even just a middle finger, but Law didn't want to bother with them. He sensed more than saw or heard his crew's confusion and worry about this. He eventually got to his office and locked the door behind him, not wanting to be disturbed.

Law loved his office. More than his private quarters and even more than the infirmary, which was seriously saying something! It was a comfortable size for him, not too big but not too small. There were two chairs and a desk in the middle of the room, papers and little odds-and-ends that he'd collected over the months scattered all over. His favorite part was his collection, though. Wall to wall bookcases reached the ceiling, so tall that he had to stand on his chair to get to the top two shelves. He had books ranging from medicine to psychology to philosophy to history to geography. Anything that wasn't informational, like fiction or myths, was kept in his room.

He pulled a random book from one of the shelves without even looking at it and sat in his chair with a sigh. He'd at least look busy if anyone would come see him. Nadeen hadn't told him much before the drug had made her go under. He knew when she'd first eaten her devil fruit, how long she'd been with the marines, and why she was out at sea. None of that helped him decide what to do with her now, though.

And what was with that last mumbled bit before she fell asleep? Not only did she mix up Penguin and Bepo's names, she said something about being 'thrown away', or something to that effect. Now what was he supposed to do with that? That little hole in his information would bite and wriggle and itch at him until he could get it filled, and who knew when that would happen? It was like she'd planned it that way! ... Did she? Was Nadeen smart enough to know exactly what to say to keep him interested long enough to keep her around? He didn't know her well enough to decide on that, though he was usually a good judge of character from first meetings.

Law groaned aloud and slammed his head on his desk hard enough to leave a mark. He needed to know more. But how...? He sighed once again and went to his door, sticking it out to see if anyone was nearby. Luck was on his side, for Shachi was heading towards his door with a box that Law noted contained books. He gave a sharp whistle to catch the man's attention, but instead made him jump and drop the box, spilling them everywhere. "Oops. Sorry, Captain!" he apologized sheepishly.

The pirate captain left his office to help and shook his head. "My fault. No need to apologize." He looked at one of the books in his hand and tilted his head slightly in surprise. It wasn't a title he recognized, and that meant he didn't have it. Same for the next two he looked at. "Where did you find these? I just ordered Penguin and Bepo to find food and medicine."

Shachi shrugged as they finished packing the books back up. "Dunno. Penguin just shoved 'em at me and told me to bring 'em to your office. Then he went to the infirmary to see if that Nadeen chick was awake. I'm guessing not, though, since you're here."

Law hummed in understanding and took the entire box from his subordinate, tucking it under one arm and using the other to turn Shachi around and shove him in the other direction. "Speaking of, go get him and Bepo for me. I'd like to ask them some questions about what happened on the ship." Nadeen had already given him a basic overview, but he'd like to know what they had to say about it.

The engineer waved over his shoulder in lieu of giving a verbal response, leaving Law to take the books into his room. He cleared a space for the box on his desk. While he was waiting, he might as well sift through and organize his new prizes. By the time Penguin and Bepo knocked on his open door, he had two sizable stacks of fiction and non-fiction. "Erm... Captain?" Penguin said nervously. "Before you start scolding us for saving Nadeen without your orders, I just want to say... Bepo's fault." He pointed at the accused and took a half-step away, as if leaving room for Law to yell.

The polar bear's head whipped around to glare at the boiler-suited man while Law smirked, hiding it under the disguise of reading the summary of a book. This could prove fun. "Was not! You're the one who told her we'd free her if she could help us find the stuff Captain wanted!" Penguin blinked at Bepo in surprise, not expecting the outburst, and Bepo seemed to realize it before bowing multiple times and saying, "Sorry! So sorry!"

Law chuckled loud enough to get their attentions and lowered the book, showing his amused expression. "You're not in trouble, least of all for giving me a new subject to study." They exchanged uneasy glances at the wording, and Law's smirk widened. "No, I actually wanted to ask you to run through what happened when you found her. She gave the basics, but no details."

His first mate and engineer played a quick game of Rock Paper Scissors to see who'd go first. Predictably, Bepo lost. It must suck to have paws. Penguin stepped back to let Bepo speak. "I heard her first. We were running through the hallway, looking for the infirmary or kitchen, and she called out to us. When we went to find her, she was in a prison cell. The room smelled..." He crinkled his fuzzy nose in distaste and growled uncharacteristically. "It smelled horrible, Captain. Like sweat and blood and vomit and things that should only be done in the bathroom. They didn't treat her very nice."

Well, that was an understatement. From the sounds of it, she probably didn't have any furniture, toilet or bed. Leave it to his oldest friend to point it out so innocently, though. Law made a mental note to take a full body check instead of just looking Nadeen over. He motioned for Bepo to continue, but it was Penguin who spoke next. "We did the basic pleasantries, exchanging names and such. Then I said we'd get her out, but we still needed to look for supplies. She offered help, but said she couldn't do much with her seastone-cuffs still on. I hadn't noticed them before she held her hands up. Maybe it was just the dark?" He shrugged once before continuing. "So Bepo bent the bars and she led the way to this big ol' room. I think it doubled as a medical ward and the cafe. Had food and medicine in the same cabinets."

Bepo took over once again, the distasteful look back on his face. "There was a basket of fruit on one of the tables, and Nadeen went at it like I go for fish or you go for coffee." Really now? That was seriously saying something. The only times he ever lost his decorum was when coffee was involved. He'd once actually put someone in the hospital for daring to go near him before he had his morning cup. "Nadeen said that they hadn't really been feeding her, just some bread and water once a day."

Penguin scowled and cracked his knuckles, like he wanted nothing more than to bust those marines' heads in. "They were planning on a slow death, no doubt. The beatings, the malnutrition, the lack of proper hygiene... I don't know what she ever did to them, but they better hope to God it was something horrible, like mass murdering crippled babies! No one deserves to die like that."

Their protectiveness of their new acquaintance honestly surprised Law. He knew they'd feel a little bit of responsibility for her, but nothing like this. He hummed lowly and leaned his chair back so it stood on two legs. Nadeen had failed to mention any of those things to him. Was that technically lying by omission? He finally decided that, no, no it wasn't. He'd wanted her to start at the beginning and she had. The captain excused his crewmates and stared at the ceiling, deep in thought.

* * *

Bepo and Penguin stood outside their captain's office, occupied with their own thoughts as well. Neither made a move to go anywhere else, but Law wouldn't hear them anymore even if they blasted cymbals on loud speakers. His office was sound-proofed to keep his studies from being interrupted by his crew's antics. Penguin broke the silence first and scratched his head. "You don't really think the captain is gonna 'operate' on Nadeen, do you?"

The polar bear immediately shook his head and answered as confidently as if Law had told him himself. "No, he wouldn't. It would make this entire venture pointless, and Captain never does anything without a point. I'm more worried about what will happen to Nadeen after she's healed." Penguin nodded in agreement and crossed his arms, tapping his fingers along his forearms. "Part of me hopes Captain allows her to join." Bepo confessed sheepishly.

Penguin stopped drumming his fingers and blinked at his comrade. Yeah, he'd been thinking the same thing, but that Bepo was the first to voice it, shy and non confrontational Bepo... He finally sighed and shrugged, letting his arms drop and walking away. He ended the conversation by throwing the last few words over his shoulder. "Whatever he decides, he's the captain. Nadeen is just a woman we decided to help. She's unimportant in the long run of things."

Bepo hummed and went in the opposite direction of his human friend, his steps soft and muffled. He didn't wear shoes like the humans, as that made his paws feel awkward and clumsy, so he was one of the stealthiest when it came to stalking on the sub. He knew that Penguin didn't mean offense, and even understood. Nadeen's fate was in Captain's hands, but Bepo wasn't worried. Whatever Captain decided, they'd stand behind him like a good crew was supposed to do... _'I wonder if Nadeen knows any female bears...'_

WORDS: 3850

PAGES: 7

Me: So, Law's part seemed kind of awkward to me. I still have a hard time getting into his head. To me, he's a laid-back kind of dude that doesn't really care if people fear him or not, so long as they respect him. I went over this as much as I could without boring myself, so tell me if there're any mistakes!

Edit: Some grammar things were corrected.


	3. Insane or just special?

_**Disclaimer: This is getting old. How many times do I have to say it? Shiningheart of ThunderClan doesn't own One Piece. She's fairly certain she doesn't even own the originality of the plot. Seriously. 'Law finds chick, Law saves chick, chick befriends the Heart Pirates, and adventures are had.' How many bloody times has that happened?**_

_**Me: Disclaimer...**_

_**Disclaimer: Well, it's true! Probably the only thing you DO own is Nadeen, and any other OC Heart Pirates that rear their hatted heads.**_

_**Me: Disclaimer...**_

_**Disclaimer: Do you deny it?**_

_**Me: Well...**_

_**Disclaimer: Yeah, that's what I thought. ON WITH LE FIC!**_

* * *

Chapter 3: "Are all pirate captains this insane, or are you just special?"

Time had a habit of getting away from Law whenever he was sucked into something. He'd made the mistake of opening one of his new medical books and the next thing he knew, three hours had passed. It was a thick book that would have taken a normal reader at least few days to get through, but Law was anything but a normal reader. He was already almost done, and the urge to ignore his doctorly duties was intense.

With a sigh and a shake of his head, he placed a marker within the pages and left the confines of his beloved office. Either the crew were all off doing something quiet for once or they were eating dinner in the galley. Maybe he'd join them after he checked on Nadeen. And then she'd get some _real_ food. Of course, nothing too heavy. _'She's probably going to be sick of bread for the next decade and a half, so maybe jello or pudding. Hell, maybe even ice cream. God knows she needs to get some sugar into her blood...'_

He was so into his thoughts that he only heard the raised voices when he was outside the door for his infirmary. He waited outside for a moment to distinguish the arguers. One, predictably, was Nadeen. The other, he realized with dread, was Jake. Jake was one of the older men on the crew, possibly being the oldest at 49. He was still spry for his age, though that didn't stop silver from streaking through his straw-shaded hair. Compared with his light tan and blonde hair, his black eyes were strikingly daunting. Even Law genuinely respected him.

His only problem with the elderly man was his supersticious ways. He was the type to throw spilled salt over his shoulder or run in the other direction if he ever spotted a black cat. Women had no place aboard a ship to him, not even in the kitchen or washroom. Honestly, Law should have seen this coming. No way would Jake make things easy for him, not if it involved allowing a woman to sail with them.

From the sounds of it, though, Nadeen was holding her own pretty well. Law still had to interrupt them, and did so by slamming the door open. Nadeen, who'd been in the middle of a heated comeback, immediately fell silent at the loud bang. Both she and Jake blinked at his sudden entrance, but Law only had eyes for the elder man. In that soft tone he often used to scold and terrify his crew, he said, "I do so hope you aren't upsetting my patient, Mister Jake. If you are, I just might have to kill you."

Jake's tan skin paled a shade under Law's scrutiny, and he ducked his head to avoid looking at him. "Jus' a minor disagreement, cap'n. T'was just leavin', I was." He threw a sour look at the bed-ridden female that practically screamed, _'This isn't over'_ before passing by Law. He stopped at the door, though, and looked his captain square in the eye. "She'll be the death of us all, cap'n. Women are bad luck on the seas."

Law gave a one-shouldered shrug and answered casually. "Nothing we won't be able to handle. We're pirates, Mister Jake. We live for danger, do we not?" He gave a chilling smirk that would have froze any civillian in their tracks, but neither Nadeen nor Jake seemed effected by it. "While you're out, fetch Mister Cyrus. Miss Nadeen needs to bathe, and I don't think she'd be comfortable with any of us with her."

The elderly man nodded before finally leaving, the click of the door echoing in the silent infirmary. Both Law and Nadeen listened to Jake's footsteps and only relaxed once they faded away. Nadeen immediately flopped back on her pillows, a dark look over her features. "If I ever meet a more belligerent man, I swear to every diety in the sky or otherwise residing that I will skin his eyeballs while they're still inside his head and stuff the jelly down his throat."

The threat was an intriguing one, and Law allowed himself to picture it inside his head before chuckling low in his chest. The result was rather evil sounding, even to his own ears. "As... invigorating as that mental image is, I'd prefer you to not try and handicap my crew... even if they deserve it."

Nadeen seemed to think over his words and scratched at her scalp, wincing once she touched it. Law didn't know if it was in disgust at her hair's state or if her head was just tender, but he imagined Cyrus would tell him later. "No crippling, huh? How about just mauling?" Law smirked and shook his head in a negative. "Maiming?" Another shake of the head. "Severely injuring?" A third shake of the head. "Mentally scarring pranks that only a mind as disturbed as my own would come up with?"

That brought him up short and Law almost asked what pranks she could possibly come up with that would scar his crewmates, but he still ultimately gave another negative. "Believe me, they're mentally scarred enough with just having me as their captain. Ask Derek about the stampede I caused on the last island before we came to the Grand Line. He squeals like a little girl and hides in the closest corner, and it... it's just something you have to see to understand."

She gave him a wide-eyed look and seemed to be on the verge of asking, before sighing and shaking his head. "I'm... not entirely sure I even want to know..." Law silently applauded her with a mischievous grin and she rolled her eyes. The pirate captain would have frowned at the display of disrespect if he hadn't caught the beginnings of a smile on her face as well. So, she was the type to enjoy meaningless banter, was she? That certainly fit the profile of when she was speaking with Penguin on the marine deck. "So, who's Cyrus and why would I not mind him seeing me both naked and at my weakest?"

Law gave himself a subtle shake to get back on topic and leaned against the wall by the door with his arms crossed in front of his chest. Shachi and Penguin had once called it his 'I'm so much more awesome than you could ever understand' pose. That had earned them both a slap upside the head and laundry duty for the rest of the month. Good times, good times... "He's our navigator. He's a bit... extravegant, but I've never met anyone who can predict the weather like he can. As for why you shouldn't worry about him..." A knock on the door caused Law to grimace instinctively, knowing exactly who was on the other side. "Well... you'll see."

-Nadeen's POV-

The door flew open at such a speed that Law had to jump to the side to not get hit by it. Nadeen stared, horrified, at the man- she had to remind herself that Law had used the masculine pronoun, so it was indeed a man- standing in the open doorway. Cyrus had long, curly brown hair that swept over his shoulders. His eye lids were coated with bright blue eye shadow that matched the horridly bright and sparkly suit he wore. Dark eyelashes, thick with mascara, framed dark green eyes. He was so tall that he had to duck into the room, but that was attributed nearly entirely to his 5-inch platform boots.

Nadeen slowly, VERY slowly, turned her head to look at Law. He looked almost sheepish, but instantly the look was wiped off and instead she was met with a raised eyebrow, as if he were curious as to the reason for the look of absolute. Abject. Horror. So... that's why she didn't have to worry. "So, you're the little dear that my captain has decided to take on?" Cyrus asked, running a critical eye over her. She squirmed under his judging gaze and cast Law a desperate look, which he pointedly looked away from. "Bit scrawny, don'cha think?"

She narrowed her eyes at the words and twisted her expression into something hopefully distainful. "Thanks for that. Really know how to make a girl feel special." She gave a sarcastic little thumbs up and cringed when the crossdresser threw his head back and gain a teeth-grinding chortle. Another glare at Law, except this one he met with his own. Why he was glaring at her, she had no idea. Maybe it was a warning to be nicer to his crew. Maybe he just didn't like to be glared at. Both seemed probable. Nadeen sighed at the thought and forced a smile to her face when Cyrus stopped laughing. "So... bath time? I seriously feel like I need it."

Cyrus beamed a bright smile at her, his teeth straight and sparkling. No, seriously, they were sparkling. Nadeen almost refused then and there to go anywhere with him. She was afraid she'd go blind. He nodded so vigorously that his hair bounced. "Oh, yes, you certainly do! I can smell your stink all the way from here." He waved his hand in front of his nose, as if warding off her stench.

Nadeen frantically went through Law's rules in her mind, her fists clenching her blankets so she didn't expend unneeded energy flinging him through the door with her powers. _'No crippling, mauling, maiming, killing, or injuring. No mauling, maiming, killing, or injuring.'_ Her eye twitched as she spoke through clenched teeth, trying desperately to not scowl darkly. "That would certainly explain why Law hasn't come any closer than the door."

Law apparently decided that was his cue to bow out. He pushed away from the counter he'd been leaning against since Cyrus disturbed his place by the door and cleared his throat to get their attentions. "Well, while you two are busy, I'll go have Mister Coryn make something light for your supper, Miss Nadeen. I don't suppose you have any requests?"

He asked it mockingly, with a smug smile that made Nadeen want to hurt him. He was abandoning her! With the crossdresser that had insulted her twice times in the past three minutes! Oh, there would be retribution for this, mark her words... Law would pay. With a sweet smile on her face, she spoke in a sugary voice that would fool anyone that wasn't looking into her eyes. "Anything but bread, if you would, Mister Law. Perhaps soup, with small little chunks of whatever the cook finds best?"

He nodded in understanding and bowed at the waist, all gentleman-like. The effect was ruined by the glint in his eye. "As you wish, Miss Nadeen. Just remember my rules." Nadeen gave a lazy, two fingered salute that made Law chuckle as he was leaving the room. He threw a last order over his shoulder to his subordinate. "Bring her to the galley when she's clean." Cyrus was about to start speaking, but Nadeen held up a hand to stop him. He fell into a confused silence, only to understand when they heard a laugh outside of the door and footsteps leading away.

Nadeen gently took the IVs from her arm and set them back on the bed, not entirely sure what to do with them. She'd have to ask Law to show her later, as well as how long she'll need to have them. Less than five hours on it and she already felt better than before the marines found her. "Well, let's get this over with." She sighed and swung her legs over the side of the bed, wincing when the cold floor hit her bare feet. She'd need to pester Law about socks, too. Actually, she'd have to pester him for a new outfit entirely.

Cyrus wrinkled his nose and apparently agreed with her. "Ugh, we have _got_ to get you new clothes, darling. Those rags you have now may have looked good when you were healthy, but now they're just... just..." Nadeen nodded in agreement and pushed herself to her feet. She almost stumbled at the sudden change of balance, but Cyrus was suddenly at her side and steadying her with a surprisingly gentle hand. "Easy there, doll. Can't smash that pretty face of yours before we wash it off."

She blinked at him in surprise before smiling brightly and nodded. "Yup! So lead the way, mister man-dude!"

-Galley, with the Heart Pirates-

The gallery was filled with the remaining Heart Pirates. Law sat at the head of the table, silently amused at the antics of his oldest friends. Shachi and Penguin were wrestling playfully on the floor, surrounded by their cheering crewmates. How this fight started, Law had no idea. They'd already been at it when he'd entered from the hallway. He'd at first been worried that something was wrong with the sub; the two only ever fought when they were at odds about how to solve a problem.

When a crewmate had noticed, Law became annoyed. They weren't fighting seriously, they were just having fun. Apparently there was a stupid betting pool floating around, but no one would tell Law what it was about. It took just a tiny bit of intimidation, but eventually someone spilled. Law had officially scared the shit out of the newest crewmembers by bursting into laughter and leaning against the table, trying not to fall. It was the first time they'd seen him show emotion so openly, let alone humor.

The reason? The bet was on what Nadeen would look like once she bathed and filled out a bit. She looked as brittle as a twig now, but a little fat here and a bit of muscle there could make a girl look way different. Penguin seemed to be under the impression that beneath the fragile mask was a beautiful angel whose simple touch could turn men to jelly. Shachi thought that his childhood friend was an idiot and that even if she did come out prettier, there most certainly wasn't an angel underneath.

Law shook his head and sipped at his mug of coffee, humming a little in delight at the bitter taste. He loved coffee. "Why are my closest human friends a bunch of idiots?" he questioned Bepo, who sat on the floor like a dog next to him.

Bepo blinked his sweet little eyes up at his captain and answered a little hesitantly, "Because... Because you grew up with them?" Law paused to think about that before smirking and raising his cup in agreement before taking another swig...

... Only to choke on it when Shachi and Penguin suddenly appeared on either side of him with sly smiles on their faces. They both stared at him eerily and Law looked back and forth between them warily. He really, REALLY didn't like the looks on their faces. "What do you think, huh Captain?" Penguin asked. Law raised an eyebrow at him, pretending to not know what he's talking about. "Nadeen, what do you think about Nadeen?"

Shachi nudged Penguin a little with his elbow, a sparkle in his eye that said he was up to no good. "If memory serves me, don'cha have a thing for red-heads, Cap?" Law's eyebrow twitched and he narrowed his eyes on him. Any sane person would have run from the look they were getting, but Shachi's smile only widened. "Kathy was a red-head, from when we were fifteen."

The Surgeon of Death winced a little at the reminder. She'd been his first real girlfriend, and it hadn't lasted very long. He said as much with as bland a voice as he could manage. "And that lasted about half a year before I got sick of her endless blathering about things I couldn't care less about. She was more of a strawberry blonde, in any case. What's your point?"

Penguin answered instead of Shachi and fixed his hat into a more comfortable position. "And then Danielle when we were 18. You dumped her when you found out she only dyed her hair red to get your attention." Law glowered at them but didn't even bother to deny it. "And then that last chick you bedded about two months ago. That was a _real_ babe."

Law gave Penguin a disturbed look that Shachi actually mirrored. "You remember the women I've laid with when I don't even remember their faces?" Admittedly he wasn't really paying attention to their faces, but that's not something either one of them would be likely to pick up on. The engineer actually looked bashful. "That's...slightly creepy, Penguin. I hope you know that." He shrugged sheepishly and Law promptly disregarded him in favor of looking at Shachi. "Seriously, still waiting on a point here."

Shachi gave an exaggerated sigh and threw an arm over Law's shoulder, earning an annoyed glare which he ignored. "Our point, my friend, is that Nadeen's a redhead. You have a thing for redheads. Tell me that didn't play any part in your decision to keep her around!"

The captain gave Shachi a shove to get his personal space back, and Shachi tumbled to the floor like he'd just been slugged in the face. Despite himself, Law smirked at his antics. "That didn't have any part in my decision to keep her around." Shachi and Penguin gave him disbelieving looks, and Law shrugged before taking another gulp of his cooling coffee. "I saw a challenge, a puzzle to be solved. If she interests me at all, then I assure you it's not for her body."

Penguin and Shachi both perked up at this, but the ever elequent Penguin was the one who spoke. "Really? Then would you mind if we hit on her and see where that leads us?" Law almost felt bad for Nadeen, even as he waved his hand to give them the go ahead. The two gave a cheer and started dancing, but stopped when the door to the galley snapped open.

Law almost choked on his coffee for a second time, but this one was more in amusement than surprise. Nadeen was being cradled in Cyrus's arms like a precious child, though she looked far too annoyed to be enjoying the free ride. Cyrus had crocodile tears pouring down his face as he wailed softly over something Law didn't know about. The larger man spotted him and decided to share whatever was plaguing him. "Captain-chan!" He hurried over to Law and ignored the snickering from the men and the curled lip of his captain. "Have you seen Nadeen-chan's back and ribs? They're all black and blue! It completely goes against her skin tone!"

The doctor in him reared it's ugly head and Law sat a little straighter, narrowing his eyes on Nadeen. She grinned a little sheepishly and shrugged lightly. "Nothing you can do about it anyway. They're only cracked, so the most you could do is make a paste to sooth the pain and speed up the process. And I know you don't have the ingredients for that, so it would only be a waste of time on both sides right?"

He would never admit to anyone, even himself, that he was slightly impressed at both the selflessness and the knowledge. He'd had cracked ribs before, and they hurt like a bitch. It showed a tolerence to pain that could be both beneficial and detrimental to her health. Law narrowed his eyes even more until they were nothing more than angry gray slits. "And yet, you still neglected to tell me, your doctor, that you were in pain? Suppose you were wrong about them just being cracked? What if there's internal bleeding? What if, God forbid, you puncture a lung and _drown in your own blood?"_

The festivities of the Heart Pirates paused at their captain's tone. Everyone, even the ever oblivious Cyrus, inched away at the rage he was emitting. Nadeen either ignored it or didn't notice it. Privately, Law hoped it was the first one. It would be fun to see what she'd have to face before her little mask cracked. Either way, she met his wrath with a raised eyebrow. "I've seen men drown in their own blood. Caused it, half the time. And this isn't anything like it." God dammit, she was one of those difficult patients, wasn't she? He gave an angry growl and Nadeen sighed, like _he_ was the one being stubborn. "Look, if it bothers you that much, I promise I'll sit still and quiet so you can give me a thorough examination later. You can even skip the anesthetics if you have to operate."

Well, fuck him, how was he supposed to pass that up? He struggled to keep the anger up, visibly wrestled with it on his face, before sitting back against his chair with a huff that those with suicidal tendencies would call a pout. "I hope your liver gets stabbed." he snarked, finishing off his coffee. Nadeen gave a sarcastic smile, but didn't verbally response. Law sighed and stood to refill his mug... and get her dinner. Can't forget the reason she's up and about in the first place. "I'll be back momentarily with your food. You move even an inch away from your seat and I will run you through myself!" She gave another lazy salute, just like earlier, but this one made Law scowl. She'd put him in a foul mood, and he'd let everyone know that.

* * *

Words: 3591

Pages: 7

Me: I'd have added more, but it was at this point in the chapter that I got bored writing. And if I get bored writing, you'll get bored reading. Next chapter will be her meeting the crew.


	4. I see

_**Disclaimer: Shiningheart of ThunderClan doesn't own One Piece.**_

_**Me: ... That's it? No snappy remarks, no sarcastic one-liner? What, did you finally run out of that charming wit of yours?**_

_**Disclaimer: ... Just start the story.**_

-PAGE BREAK-

Chapter 4: "I see, so it's a crew requirement."

Nadeen smirked like the devil at Law's retreating back. She knew her attitude had pissed him off, and the knowledge pleased her greatly. Yes, the rest of dinner was probably going to be thick with tension and uncomfortable for the other guys, but at least she had the pleasure of seeing the almighty Trafalgar Law lose his patience. No pun intended. "So!" she said brightly, turning in her seat to smile at the gathered Heart Pirates. A good majority were openly gaping at her, looking back and forth from her to where Law had disappeared through the door into the kitchen- or so Nadeen supposed. He could have just been ditching her to a room full of sweaty, unknown men. "Introductions are in order, I should think, yes?"

The first to snap from the stupor was the man Law had sewn up earlier. Without all of the blood caked on him, Nadeen noticed that he had rather angular features. A straight nose and high cheek bones gave him a sharp look. He had dark green eyes that, at the moment, were sparkling rather... Well, it just made her inch away a little in unease. His braided blond hair rested just between his shoulder blades. He towered over her when he scurried to her side, setting that unnaturally glittery gaze on her. "Howdy, I'm Derek, and I just want to say that that was one of the most awesome things I've ever seen."

She tried to move even further away, but she found that escape blocked by Penguin and Shachi. Penguin was grinning at her and bouncing on his toes like a child who just found a new toy to play with. Idly, Nadeen thought the comparison was rather accurate. "You've already met me, but I'm Penguin! And I agree with Derek; not even Shachi and I look Captain in the eye when he's in a pissy mood."

To Penguin's side stood Shachi. Though he wasn't as open in his awe, he still smiled at her and said, "Would it be inappropriate for me to say you have balls?"

The comment was so different from the other two that she actually almost laughed out loud. But a sudden throb in her side made her take a deep breath and release it in a hiss. The three men surrounding her frowned simultaneously and backed a step away, as if giving her room to breath. Nadeen waved her hand casually and smiled apologetically. "Nah, chill. It wasn't you guys, my ribs just twinged a little." The clatter of a bowl in front of her made her jump (inadvertently leading to another hiss of pain), and she blinked in mild shock up at Law. She hadn't even heard him come in! Without thinking, she blurted out, "Dude, you're a fucking _ninja_. How the hell did you keep the door from making any noise?"

Law smirked and retook his seat, now with a full cup of steaming coffee. He didn't seem angry anymore, but he could also just as well be hiding it. More likely the latter than the former. Suddenly, Nadeen didn't feel very safe in his presence. "If I told you, I'd have to kill you." She stared at him warily before looking down at her food with the same face. Law snorted at her and rolled his eyes behind his mug. "If I was going to kill you, you'd know it. I wouldn't poison your food and watch as you unknowingly invited death."

Nadeen raised an eyebrow at him and took the spoon he'd brought for her, playing with her soup. "No, you'd just strap me down to your operating table and inject flesh-eating drugs into my system and laugh as I froth at the mouth and scream in pain at the feeling of my innards melting and/or rearranging."

Just as she took her first bite, Law sighed lightly and spoke to the crewmate closest to him, which just happened to be Bepo. "She knows me so well, doesn't she?" Nadeen choked on her food at the wistful tone in his voice, and Law chuckled as he reached over to lightly rub her back. "Now what on Earth was that reaction for? I don't think I said anything that could possibly cause that..."

Her eyes watered slightly as she cleared her throat and waved him off. "Sorry, sorry... Tone of voice... Just slightly... erm..." How do you say _"scared the hell out of me"_ without losing respect points? She took a second bite of her soup, hoping to buy herself time to think of a decent explanation.

Law, who seemed to know exactly what her thought process was, smirked mockingly. "What, did you have mental images? I'm flattered that you're already fantasizing about me!" For the second time in half as many minutes, Nadeen choked. Law didn't even bother to reach over and pat her when he asked, "Is this going to be a reoccurring thing, Miss Nadeen?"

Nadeen decided to not answer his question directly, and instead pushed her bowl the slightest bit away. His eyes narrowed at this, and she had to force her form still so that the instinctive shiver didn't show. "I think I'll wait until you leave the room to finish. Eating while you speak is hazardous to my health." For some reason, that seemed to _amuse_ him. At least, his smirk was bigger than ever. It made Nadeen scowl at him, which in turn made his smirk grow even more. She turned away from him with a huff.

The pirate captain chuckled at her and stood from his seat, taking his precious coffee with him. "If that's how you feel, then I'll go prepare a full physical for you. You should have enough energy for that, then it's back to bed rest." Law didn't give Nadeen enough time to respond before he turned to the room at large with a stern frown. "Make sure she eats." The _'or else'_ was left floating in the air unsaid. He got a chorus of affirmatives from more than one Heart Pirate before he tilted his head to his guest in mock respect before leaving. Nadeen made sure to flip him off before he went out the door. He may have won this battle, but the war was far from over!

-Law's POV-

Well, that went better than expected. He hadn't even been trying to make her choke the first time. The reaction had been so surprisingly pleasing that he'd tried it again, on purpose. The second one had been even better than the first. Why? Nadeen had been blushing. She probably hadn't been aware of it, though. She was kind of... dare he think it... cute when she was flustered. He knew he'd have a lot of fun with that later on...

Law hummed as he let his muscle memory take over, leading him wherever his body wanted to go. So, what had he learned about his guest/patient aside from his personal opinion? Well, one, she was observant. How else did she know how to calm his frustration down without him blowing his top? He didn't usually blow his top, but patients neglecting to keep him informed was one of his biggest pet peeves. Unless someone had told her, though, how had she known? Maybe she was just betting on the rumors of his cruelty and using his sadism against him.

Okay, second thing? She was able to push pain away and keep her focus. He'd heard one hiss of pain and actually witnessed another, but on both occasions she'd ignored them and gone right back to her conversation. That led him to conclude that she either A. was just naturally resistant to pain or B. was so used to it that it didn't even bother her. Law would have to x-ray for past trauma when they stopped at an island. He didn't like taking out the VERY expensive machines while storms could pop up within a minute.

Did he discover any other useful quirks he could exploit? Well, from what he saw when Derek and Shachi and Penguin were crowding around her like freaky fangirls, she didn't like her personal space being invaded. Either that or she was lying when she said that they hadn't caused her ribs to hurt. That reminded him- he'd have to punish the three of them later for pestering her when she's trying to recover. Yeah, Law might have given Shachi and Penguin permission to flirt with her, but they seriously should know better than to crowd an injured person! He wouldn't have been surprised if she'd used her powers to make them go away.

Speaking of, he'd have to question her about that later, too. He didn't know anything about her devil fruit other than her little display on the marine ship, and she only told him when she'd eaten it. The marines had all floated in the air like gravity had reversed itself around them, so maybe her powers had to do with that? But no, she'd also flung them overboard when she'd flicked her wrist. Gravity, whether in effect or not, didn't throw people around. Only when there's outside force... Then again, she _had_ moved her hand. Maybe that was the outside force necessary to move them?

Law sighed to himself; just speculating wouldn't give him any answers. He stopped and looked around to see where he was. Just outside the door to the infirmary. Good. He stuck his head inside, just in case Nadeen was there before him. He wouldn't put it passed her to throw something at him for annoying the hell out of her. Luckily, though, he'd beaten her back. He could check to see if she'd been right about not having the ingredients to make a salve for her. If worse came to worse, he could just give her a pain killer instead of making it himself. He didn't usually like doing that, though. What was the point of him learning to make them if he didn't use his skill?

The Surgeon of Death went about his domain, doing his thing. There was a short supply of coltsfoot, which was the best for coughs and helped with breathing; chickweed, which worked wonders for both rashes and chest infections; chamomile, for shot nerves; and passion flowers, which he'd need to refill on even before the others. Stupid insomnia... No capsiacin, no ginger, or even feverfew. Wow, he really _didn't_ have anything for pain...

By the time Nadeen returned, still being carried by Cyrus, Law was ready for her. He'd even brought out a few of his favorite scalpels, just for intimidation. He was rather disappointed when she didn't seem to notice them, or even him. She seemed quite hellbent on scowling as hard as she could at Cyrus. The crossdresser was smiling brightly at her and blinking, as if in confusion. Law coughed to gain their attention and got it, only to become confused when Nadeen blushed brightly and Cyrus grinned wider. "... What the hell?" Law asked blandly. He regretted asking as soon as the question passed his lips.

Cyrus opened his mouth to answer, but Nadeen quickly slapped a hand over his mouth and spoke through clenched teeth. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing." Law narrowed his eyes at her and was about to remind her that he didn't like being lied to when she backtracked with a sigh and a shake of the head. "Okay, I'll rephrase that. Absolutely nothing you want to know about. Trust me, you'll sleep easier without asking."

Knowing exactly how his crewmember was, Law took her seriously and didn't ask again. He only pointed to the bed Nadeen had been sleeping in, and Cyrus obediently set the redhead down. Law was about to speak again when he saw Cyrus wink cheekily at Nadeen, making her swat at him. The okama danced backwards with a laugh and, blowing Law a flirty little kiss, finally left the two alone.

They stared at the door in horrified silence, trying hard not to look at each other. For the second time that day, Nadeen slowly turned to face the pirate that had saved her life. Law did everything in his power to not look at her, but still eventually found himself meeting her eyes. There was a mixture of shock, annoyance, and... dammit, was that humor?! A smile started to pull at her face until she was practically beaming, and she even started to laugh. "What the hell was that?!" she gasped out.

Law glared at her and snapped, "Stop laughing! It's not funny, dammit!" It just caused her to laugh until she was gasping for air... or what Law thought was gasping for air until she grasped at her sides. The doctor in him snapped to attention, and he hurried over to help her lean back against the wall of pillows he'd set up for her beforehand. "Okay, seriously, stop laughing. If it causes you pain, it's not good for you."

Nadeen wiped her hand over her cheeks to wipe off the tears and beamed up at him. There was still laughter in her voice. "I-I can't h-help it! It's just too much!" Law stepped back when she took one of the pillows and smashed it in her face, not giving herself any breathing room. She wasn't the suicidal sort, not that he could see at least, so why the hell was she trying to suffocate herself? He understood only when she took the pillow away and started taking deep breaths, which did eventually calm her laughter down. It didn't wipe off the smile from her face, though. "I'm done... I think... Maybe..."

He sighed and shook his head, taking his hat off to run his fingers through his hair. Without really thinking about it, he sat next to her on the fortress of fluff and put his head in his hands. "Ugh... Seriously, I want to strangle him sometimes." Law wrung his hands in the air in front of him, as if actually imagining choking the life out of his navigator. Nadeen snickered again, but a warning look made her calm back down. "He does that constantly. Flirts and calls me pet names and it... it just..." He shuddered to express his feelings. "My scalpels are too good for him. The only reason I haven't kicked him off of the crew yet is because the man's a genius when it comes to navigation."

She grinned at him and patted his arm in what Law assumed was supposed to be a consoling manner. "There, there, Law. He'll find another man to pester soon enough. And if not, we can find him one. You can't possibly be the hottest guy on the sea, can you?" Law half-turned to stare at her with one eye, and Nadeen raised an eyebrow at him. "What? If worse comes to worse we can always dress a male hooker up to look like you and sic Cyrus on him."

... Wow, Nadeen, way to make a guy feel awkward. Law opened his mouth to speak, made a couple of noises in his throat, but no words came out. He let out the breath he'd been holding in his chest and shook his head. "Just... Just take off your shirt. I still need to take stock of your ribs." To give her credit, she didn't give him the _'what the hell' _look he'd kind of been half-expecting. She just turned away from him and took her top off.

Despite himself, Law sucked in a deep breath. Her entire lower back was stained with bruises, some yellowing around the edges and others only just beginning to darken. He pressed the tip of a finger over one of the darkest spots lightly and she stiffened at the feel of his hand. Law couldn't tell if it was from pain of the bruises being touched or shock of the sudden contact. Nadeen answered for him. "That's one of the breaks. Given to me only an hour before you guys attacked the ship." She shifted and ran the palm of her hand over her sides, only giving one or two winces. "I count... Three or four breaks, including the one just you just fucking _poked_."

There really was nothing he could do for her. _'Dammit.'_ Law almost felt guilty about it before shaking the emotion off. It wasn't one he was accustomed to, and the feeling of it disturbed him. He heard Penguin's voice ring inside of his head. _"I don't know what she ever did to them, but they better hope to God it was something horrible, like mass murdering crippled babies!"_ Law had thought Penguin'd been exaggerating at the time, but now that he saw this... Yeah, he had to agree with his friend: those sons of bitches were damn lucky they were already dead. Otherwise... His hand, the one not on Nadeen's back, twitched with the urge to grab his nodachi and pay them back.

-Nadeen's POV-

The fury rolling off of her doctor was, oddly enough, comforting. He cared enough to be angry on her behalf. She'd been more expecting apathy, maybe even some passive aggression, but not this. She heard Law take in another deep breath, and the rage in the air simmered down. Nadeen was impressed with his self-control, and straightened a little with the change in the air.

Law got up from the bed and went over to one of the cabinets on the opposite wall. She was tempted to check if Cyrus was telling the truth earlier, but kept herself still. She would not look. She wouldn't! "I'm going to bandage up your entire middle, starting from your hips to just below your breasts. It won't help heal it faster, but it should at least discourage you from moving."

Nadeen grinned a little as he came back towards her and said, "What, you don't trust me to follow doctor's orders and hold still? I'm shocked!"

The Surgeon of Death retook his spot behind her and, true to his word, started wrapping the wrapping down by her hips. It was a little uncomfortable to her, having him so inside of her bubble, but she didn't fidget or move. Law would probably take every chance he could to annoy her if she knew it bothered her. At least, that was the kind of vibe she got from him. Nadeen almost missed his reply to her rhetorical question. "Not at all. I recognize the way you argued with me, back in the galley. You're the restless sort of patient, who'll probably argue with every little thing I tell you to do even if it's for your own good."

That was such a scarily accurate interpretation that she turned to look at him with wide eyes. "... And you got all that just from me pissing you off?" Law forced her to look forward again, but that didn't prevent her from feeling him nod. In as much solemnity as she could muster, she said, "Seriously. Fucking. Ninja." Law chuckled at her and was about to respond when his hand brushed against Nadeen's side, producing a squeak. Both people froze, though for different reasons.

Nadeen sensed the smirk just as much as she heard it in his voice. "And just what, Miss Nadeen, was that?" She gulped loudly and hesitated to answer. Law either got impatient or felt like being an ass, because he lightly ran his fingers over the same spot. Instead of a squeak, it produced a short-lived squeal. "Are you, perhaps, ticklish?"

This was bad. This was very, very bad. She felt sweat drip down her face and didn't deny or affirm his guess. "Now remember, Captain Law, I'm injured! Any movement at all could hinder my recovery. I'd be in here, day after day after day, pestering you about pain or irritation or having trouble breathing. You wouldn't want that, now would you?" Please buy it, please buy it, please buy it...

Law gave an exaggerated hum as he thought it over and said casually, as if discussing the weather, "Or I could just kill you once I've had my fun." He wrapped his hand around the back of her throat for emphasis. The darkness in his tone scared her, and the air grew tense around them. Only a minute passed before Law took his hand away from her with a sigh. "But you're right, I wouldn't want that. You still have a debt to pay, do you not?"

She gave a silent sigh of relief. That was just a reminder: no matter how nice or polite Law might seem, he was still a dangerous man. Nadeen felt confident that, if she were at full strength, she could beat him. Or at least slow him down enough to run the fuck away, as her instincts told her to. But the fact of the matter was that she _wasn't_ at full strength, and Law's mercy was the only reason she was even still alive. If she displeased him in any way... She had to resist the urge to gulp at the thought.

They both stayed silent as Law finished bandaging her middle. The light-hearted mood had evaporated with his threat. Nadeen put her shirt back on when he stood up and leaned against the wall of pillows once more. He was rummaging around again in a different cabinet, and Nadeen felt her eyes wander before she could control them. She snapped back to attention, though, when he turned around with a little pill and a water bottle. "Pain killer. I'd normally make a salve to rub onto your bruises, but, like you said earlier, I don't have the ingredients."

She took the bottle and pill with a nod of thanks. "Cheers." She lifted the bottle in salute before taking a swig and popping the pill, swallowing both with little difficulty. Law took the same seat as yesterday and gave the IV line that Nadeen had put up a glare. Nadeen laughed sheepishly and said, "Well, you never took it out earlier before you left me with Cyrus and neither of us knew what to do with it so..." Without a word, Law took the needle and held his hand out for her arm. She sighed and gave it, wincing when he stabbed the point in with none of the earlier gentleness. "How long am I going to have to stay on this thing?"

Law sat back with crossed arms and a thoughtful frown. "You're not feeling nausea from your food earlier?" She shook her head in a negative. "Then you're already getting better, so I'd say you're on bed rest for about... two months. One month for the malnutrition, and another for your ribs." Nadeen winced, but didn't protest. There wasn't anything she could do about it. "Now, I have some questions. And this time, we're doing it my way. I ask questions, you answer them truthfully. Got it?"

Jeeze, who pissed in his coffee? He was no where near this harsh earlier! Did she do or say something to deserve this, or was he just that sensitive about her laughing at him earlier? Nadeen made a gesture with her hand. "Ask away, Captain Law." She tried to keep her expression from souring, but his narrowed eyes said she didn't succeed entirely.

Luckily, though, he decided not to say anything about it. "Your powers. What are they, specifically?" The only betrayal of his curiosity was the telltale glint in his gray eyes. His posture and expression were perfectly still and stoic.

Nadeen thought of how to best explain it, so her opening words were a little slow to start. "Three years ago, I ate the Lev-Lev Fruit. Not a very creative name, considering it gives it's consumer powers over levitation." Law cracked a smirk at that, but that was all the joke got for her. "Think telekinetic, but with more... restrictions, I guess you could say." She shrugged her shoulders and snuggled more into her best, taking one of the pillows behind her and cuddling it to her chest. "Telekinesis depends on the strength of one's mind; my powers depend on my physical body. How strong I am, how good my health is, how much my target weighs..."

Law interrupted her before she could go on. His head was tilted to the side, a look that made him seem like a confused puppy. Any other time and Nadeen probably would have giggled at it. "You said you'd been in captivity for about a month. How could you still have enough strength left to blast a third of the marines over the ship's edge if you'd been starved and beaten?"

She gave him a half-assed grin. "Natural talent?" He stared at her flatly until she sighed and gave a real answer. "I ate an entire basket of fruit when your two crewmen were raiding the med room/cafeteria. I guess that gave me just enough energy, considering I tired out quickly. If you'll recall, I couldn't stand afterwards."

He nodded in understanding. "So your devil fruit powers let you levitate whatever you want to, so long as you're strong enough to physically lift it." It was a summary, not a question, but Nadeen nodded anyway. "Then why did those marines call you the Demon Gale?"

The redhead barked a laugh out and smirked at him. "Because the World Government is a bunch of ignorant, pompous, lazy arseholes. My first debut as a pirate just happened to coincide with a natural storm. A flick of my hand made a man fly with a strong gust of wind, so they probably thought I had something to do with it." She yawned a little, and then glared at him. "Did that pain killer happen to come with a drowsiness warning?" Law smirked at her and nodded. With a little pout, Nadeen curled up into a ball and stuck her tongue out at him. "You're gonna fuck up my entire sleeping pattern if you keep knocking me out, Trafalgar."

Law rolled her eyes at her immaturity and stood again. "The sun has gone down, anyway. You'll probably sleep through the entire night this time." Nadeen gave a sarcastic cheer. His mood must have improved some, because he chuckled at her sarcasm and took all but one of the pillows from behind her head. When he tried to take the one in her arms, she pulled it closer and glared at him. Instead of trying harder to take it away, he smirked again. "So you're a cuddle whore. Nice to know."

Nadeen stared at him in surprise just long enough for him to swipe the pillow from her slackened grip. She whined at the loss. "No fair, you distracted me!" He made a show of setting his new captive back where it came from, one of the other beds. "I just like cuddling. It makes me feel... I dunno, safer, I guess?" She shrugged, unsure how to explain it. Law apparently understood though, and patted her on the head like a parent would a child.

She made to swat at him, like she did earlier for Cyrus, but Law leaned just out of range and started towards the door with a chuckle. "Good night then, Miss Nadeen. I'll have someone bring you some new clothes in the morning."

She huffed, but didn't protest. Inside her head, she heard Cyrus's voice. _"I'm telling you, Nadeen-chan, Captain-chan has one of the nicest butts on this entire ship! You should check it out some time!"_ Against her own judgement, Nadeen lowered her eyes to look at Law's ass as he walked. She wasn't aware of herself thinking it before she voiced her opinion. "Dammit, Cyrus was right." Law hummed in question when he turned back to her with a raised eyebrow. Instead of elaborating, Nadeen gave one of the girliest squeaks she'd ever made and ducked her head under her pillow. Law didn't ask and just shut out the lights and closed the door.

-PAGE BREAK-

Pages: 9

Words: 4671

_**Me: So, what have we learned? Nadeen's ticklish, the name of her fruit, and that I have no creativity when it comes to naming them. Oh, and that Law has a nice ass. Yay! Thanks for reading, now review please!**_

_**Oh, and happy end of the world! XD**_


	5. Creepy or Crazy?

_**Me: I usually put any comments or concerns I have at the bottom of the chapter, but I just want to take this chance to thank all the people who have reviewed, favorited, alerted, or even just clicked on the link. I seriously never thought my story would get this much attention! I'm going to assume it's because people love Law and not inflate my ego too much. 49 reviews, 45 favorites, **__**93 alerts**__**... I love you guys. And for that, I hope you enjoy this chapter! TAKE IT AWAY, DISCLAIMER!**_

_**Disclaimer: Shiningheart blah blah doesn't own blah blah One Piece.**_

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Chapter 5: Creepy or Crazy?

In the past, Nadeen had been woken up in some pretty strange ways. She's been shot at, yelled at, had things thrown at her, been thrown off her bed/perch, and at one point, before she'd eaten her devil fruit, had even been thrown off a boat. But never before had she been woken by a 150-something pound blond-haired fool slamming open a door and trying to throw himself at her with a shout of, "NADEEN! TIME TO WAKEY WAKEY!"

Instinct was the only reason he didn't completely crush her ribs. Nadeen threw her hand up with a shout of surprise. Her powers stopped the intruder in mid-air a mere foot from her bed. Adrenaline surged through her and she acted without thinking. "PISS OFF, FUCK FACE!" she snarled. A twitch of her hand slammed him into the floor, and a shove to the air sent him back towards the door.

Laughter was what broke her from her rage. Two people had been forced to dodge to the side to avoid being hit. Nadeen had to stare at them for a moment before memories of yesterday made her wince. The two laughing were Shachi and Penguin, and the man she'd just sent through the door was Derek. Penguin had his hands on his knees, half-bent over in laughter. Shachi was leaning on his friend, and he was the first to speak. "Dude, did you see his face when he flew passed?" he said to Penguin.

Penguin nodded, apparently too overcome to speak. Thankfully, Nadeen didn't have the same affliction. "What the Goddamn hell do you idiots think you're doing?!" The IV line was the only reason she hadn't already lunged for their throats, cracked ribs and health problems be damned. "If you wanted to wake me up, a simple shake and _'rise and shine'_ would have done!"

Her tone did nothing to calm them down. If anything, they just laughed harder. Nadeen sneered at them and looked at where she'd sent Derek sailing. He was crawling on the floor toward her, whimpering like a kicked puppy. He sent her a teary wide-eyed look that completed the image. "That was completely uncalled for! I didn't do anything! I claim abuse, dammit! ABUSE!"

Another flick of her wrist sent the three pillows on the other three beds at him. They hit him in the face one after the other. "You want abuse, I'll give you abuse! Unless you idiots actually have something to tell me, get the HELL out of here and let me freakin' sleep!" She pulled the pillows back to her to emphasize the threat and sent a dark look at the other two, letting them know that they would not escape her wrath.

Penguin realized it first. He stepped away from his best friend with a clearing of his throat. Shachi yelped as he fell over and crashed to the ground. He grunted as he got to his knees and cradled his jaw. "Dude, ow! I bit my tongue." Penguin shrugged apologetically and lifted Shachi by the back of his boiler suit. "Thanks." He turned to look at Nadeen and crossed his arms. She got the very distinct feeling he was narrowing his eyes at her. "Feel special. It's eleven in the morning and the captain is only now letting us wake you up."

Nadeen stared at him in shock, unconsciously letting her powers go so that the pillows all fell to the floor. "... No shit?" All three, even pouting Derek, nodded. "... Well, fuck me, that's why I have enough energy for my devil fruit powers." For someone who'd just been howling at them in anger, she'd calmed down way too quickly. The men inched away in bewilderment and exchanged wary glances. "I guess that means I missed breakfast. How about lunch?"

Penguin scratched the back of his head nervously and shuffled back a half-step. Nadeen wondered if they thought she'd attack them again if she didn't like what they were going to say. That depended almost entirely on what they were saying. "Well, that won't be for a few hours still... but Captain had Coryn fix of a plate for you to eat once you woke up! It's waiting in the kitchen. Coryn can just pop it in the oven and you'll get it in no time at all!"

He continued to babble on. The red-haired female watched in interest and wondered if this happened a lot. A glance at Shachi revealed the man to be rubbing the bridge of his nose, and a second glance to Derek showed him to be hiding his face in his hands. Nadeen deduced that this, indeed, happened a lot. Shachi solved the problem by slapping Penguin upside the head, silencing the unending stream. "Ignore him." Shachi said to her with a scowl. "He gets like that around girls, no matter their state of health."

She couldn't decide if that was sweet or creepy. It certainly explained why he got all nervous when he thought he'd insulted her outside of her prison. Like before, she decided it best to not react. "Well, in any case, any of you know how to take out this little thingamajigger?" She raised the arm with the IV needle still inside of it. Penguin immediately came over and expertly tugged out the needle. Nadeen blinked at him in surprise as he put a cotton ball on the spot where her skin had been punctured. At that moment, Shachi brought over a roll of medical tape that Penguin took without a word. The cotton ball was bound to her arm with only two wrap-arounds.

Shachi caught the look of surprise and grinned crookedly at her. "What, you thought the captain was the only one that knew how to do this stuff?" Nadeen nodded sheepishly, her smile small and embarrassed. "Well, that's partly true. He's the only real doctor onboard, but he's pretty adamant about the senior members of the crew- that's us three, plus Bepo- knowing at least the basics as well. You know, just in case something happens to him that leaves the rest of us floundering."

That actually made perfect sense and she was ashamed of herself for not thinking about that before. Nadeen didn't get much time to throw a pity party because Derek suddenly threw clothes at her. Reflex had her catch and examine them. It was a fairly simple outfit; a plain black short sleeved t-shirt and dark blue sweatpants that would be a little long on her, but that could be solved by rolling the ends up. She looked at Derek questioningly, and he answered without prompting. "Captain said he told you last night you'd be getting new clothes. He told me to just choose an outfit from the clean clothes in the laundry room and bring them to you. The shirt is his, but the pants are Sam's. He's our resident midget!"

Nadeen laughed at his words and shook her head. "That's not nice. The legs of the pants are longer than my own, so he's probably taller than me." She stared at the guys for a few minutes, trying to tell them without words to shoo and let her change. They stared back, blinking in confusion. This became apparent to her, and she sighed heavily. "Well, beat it! I'm not changing in front of you, you perverts!"

That got them scrambling over each other towards the door, yelling apologies over their shoulders as they went. Nadeen couldn't help but laugh again. They weren't trying to be funny, but she needed to laugh. After a month of being starved and beaten, everything seemed funnier. Nadeen changed swiftly, not wanting to keep the boys waiting. The bandages Law had wrapped her in made maneuvering difficult, but she'd be damned if she asked for someone's help taking off and putting on clothes. Her first instinct had been right; the hems of each pant leg went to her toes. The shirt, though, fit perfectly. The fact that it was Law's didn't even matter to her. It was comfortable, and that was all that was important.

Once she was finished, she practically skipped to the door and threw it open. Derek, who'd been leaning against the door, fell through the opening and collapsed at her feet. Nadeen snickered and stepped over him to reach the grinning Shachi and Penguin. "So, while I'm thankful and grateful and everything for the new clothes, who do I pester for socks?" She lifted each pant leg slightly and wiggled her toes for emphasis. "The metal floors make my feet cold."

The men blinked at each other, as if contemplating her question and who was going to answer her. Shachi waved his hand in the air, like he was brushing off her question. "Meh, I don't think you want to borrow any of our socks. Remember, most of us work as engineers. Coryn, Cyrus, Captain, and Jake are the only ones who don't. Our feet are all sweaty and icky and gross."

Nadeen made a face at his description. "Bleh... Yeah, I see your point." She hadn't even registered that they'd been walking until Shachi opened the door to the galley. There wasn't anyone there now, and it felt eerily silent to her. The last time she'd been in this room, the Heart Pirates had been a rowdy bunch. "Creepy." The word came out before she could even try to stop it, and she gave the three with her an apologetic look. They just looked amused.

Derek smirked at her and put his hands over her ears, ignoring the startled protest. "OI, CORYN!" Nadeen flinched when a loud crashing sound came from the kitchen, even with the sound muffled. Derek removed his hands just in time for the door to swing open and the man within to stomp towards the little group, curses spewing.

After meeting Cyrus and Bepo and Derek, Nadeen wasn't all that intimidated or surprised at Coryn's appearance. He was the same height as Cyrus, but without platform shoes. He had blond hair shaved close to his scalp, and a short, scraggly beard on his chin. The dark scowl he wore only emphasized it. He had muscles on his muscles and wore a stained white tank top with dark blue jeans tucked into boots. He looked more like a mercenary than a pirate chef. Nadeen would have been impressed if he wasn't wielding two steak knives dripping something that looked suspiciously like blood.

She gulped louder than she would have liked, but Derek was the only one close enough to notice. Thankfully, he ignored it in favor of smiling innocently at the cook. "This is Nadeen." He pushed her forward, and she gave a nervous little finger wave. Coryn barely gave her a glance before going back to glaring at his crewmate. "Captain told you to keep a plate of food for her on standby, right? For when she woke up?"

The hulking mass of flesh and muscle literally spat at them. It made Nadeen draw back with an exclamation of disgust. Coryn didn't even bother to glance at her before answering. "Yeah, it's in the oven now. I just need to turn it on. Now did she wake up on her own, or did your retarded ass go and wake her up when Captain specifically said to let her sleep off whatever knocked her out in the first place?"

The woman in question huffed, drawing their attention. She scowled at the three men behind her. "'Letting us wake you up', huh?" At least they had the decency to look sheepish. She had to crane her neck a little to look Coryn in the face. "Derek tried to fucking body tackle me off the bed. If my reflexes weren't what they are, Law would have broken ribs to deal with instead of cracked ones."

"I would, would I?" At least Nadeen had the excuse of being a woman for screaming like a little girl. The other three who took shelter behind Coryn with her? Not so much. Law looked torn between amusement at their reaction and anger for... Well, Nadeen wasn't really sure what he could be angry at. She didn't break any of his rules, the infirmary was back to the way it was, and she got revenge for Derek's treatment of her. Or he could just be in a generally pissy mood and the amusement was of the darker variety. Oh she was so fucked, wasn't she?

-LAW'S-POV; EARLIER-

Law sighed, his head drooping downwards and his eyes closed. His shoulders were slouched and his hands stuffed in his pockets. He usually walked about the sub with confidence and, as Nadeen said more than once the day before, something akin to ninja-ness. Today, though, his footsteps echoed eerily through the halls. His entire posture oozed annoyance and tiredness. It'd been another restless night for him. He hated having insomnia. Even when he did sleep, he rarely got deep enough to dream. It was a blessing every time those mental images crossed behind his eyelids, even when they were bad dreams.

He was just going to check in on the infirmary. The doctor saw three separate paths for him. If Nadeen was awake and hungry, he'd take her for food. If she was awake and not hungry, he'd still take her for food, but he'd force-feed her. If she was asleep, he'd wait for her to wake up. Maybe even take one of the unoccupied cots for himself and relax, take a nap himself. If someone needed him, they knew where to find him. There were really only two or three places he spent his time: his office, his medical ward, and the galley. In Law's mind, his quarters were only to be used for sleeping and other... more pleasurable activities.

The Dark Doctor sighed once again as he walked through the open doorway of the infirmary. It took a few seconds for that to register, and he froze. Open doorway. He'd closed it after him when he'd come by earlier that morning. Law took a deep breath, held it, and opened his eyes. He let the breath out in disappointment. Nadeen's bed was empty. The sheets weren't made. The IV line was put properly in it's spot. Either Nadeen had suddenly developed somewhat intelligent medical skills or someone let her out without informing him.

_'Che, let her out... She's not a prisoner.' _Law covered his face and rubbed at his eyes. To do the responsible thing and go looking for her, to make sure she wasn't aggravating her ribs too much? Or do the lazy thing and kidnap her bed until she returned to find him lounging, possibly sleeping, on it? He imagined her reaction to it. Indignant? Angry? Annoyed? _'What the hell are you doing on my bed?'_ To which he'd reply, _'It's my infirmary.'_ Or maybe she wouldn't give a damn. Perhaps she was smart enough to notice, hey, there's more than one bed! She could go sleep on one of the other ones until he woke up. Then again, she could also turn that against him by saying he could just as easily have occupied those instead of hers.

Another option made Law hesitate. She could also join him in the bed. Nadeen had told him the other night she was a cuddler. If he didn't wake up before someone came in, they'd find them snuggled up together. His reputation would be ruined! Not to mention the teasing Shachi and Penguin would put him through... Law shuddered at the thought and did a 180, walking right back out the door and towards the cafeteria. If whoever released her was smart, that's where they'd take her. There was an unfortunate lack of intellectual crewmembers, but luck sometimes tended to favor him.

He heard voices when he neared the galley. One was definitely Nadeen's, and she didn't sound happy. The last time Law had heard that tone, Jake was telling her she didn't belong on the ship. Was that old bastard up to his old tricks again? Law sped up from a lazy walk to a trot, just in time to hear Nadeen go, "'Letting us wake you up', huh?" They'd left the door open behind them. The Surgeon of Death peeked into the room to find Coryn facing off against Nadeen, Penguin, Shachi, and Derek. Coryn's beefy arms were crossed over his chest and he was glowering at the group. Actually, no, that wasn't entirely true. He was more glowering at Derek than the other three. Nadeen was glaring at the other three males before looking up at the chef. "Derek tried to fucking body tackle me off the bed. If my reflexes weren't what they are, Law would have broken ribs to deal with instead of cracked ones."

Law leaned against the open doorway and said, "I would, would I?" Four out of five people in the room gave a high pitched scream before diving behind Coryn for shelter. It was a hilarious picture. As the shortest of them all, Nadeen had to lean the farthest from behind all of them. Then Shachi behind her, who was actually leaning on her back to keep from falling. Law scowled; the idiot either forgot about just _why_ she was supposed to stay in bed or was just ignoring it. Derek was on his toes to look above the both of them. Penguin was last in line, but he was the smart one and leaned to the other side. Coryn hadn't moved, but Law noticed an annoyed tic to his face.

Nadeen had her mouth wide open, and she seemed to be having difficulties in deciding what to say. "You... Wha'... Bu'... I... How..."

The captain rolled his eyes exaggeratedly and said, "Call me a ninja one more time and I'm going to throw something at you." She squeaked a little and ducked further behind Coryn. Law looked at the cook and gestured with his head for him to move. He obeyed by going back to the kitchen, leaving the four idiots to flounder uselessly, trying to hide behind one another. Law let them scramble before raising a hand. They all froze at the same time. "You." He pointed to Nadeen, who swallowed loudly. He pointed to a random chair. "Sit." She hurried to did so, almost falling over in the process. "You three." His attention turned to his subordinates, who straightened themselves out. "I thought I told everyone at breakfast this morning not to bother her until she woke up on her own."

Penguin and Shachi pointed wordlessly to Derek, who glared at them and mumbled, "Traitors." Law raised an eyebrow for an explanation, and Derek rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Well... It's already eleven... Normally the stuff you gave her wears off after only eight hours, and you gave it to her at... what, eight PM?" He paused, as if waiting for his captain to give comment. Law merely raised an eyebrow and waited silently for him to continue. "Right. Well, she slept until 11 AM. That's fifteen hours. Seven more than you were supposed to sleep, in case you didn't know." He added that last part looking directly at Nadeen, who flipped him off without a word.

Law smirked when Derek stuck his tongue out. "I see then. You were worried that, perhaps, she was reacting badly to the medication?" The blonde nodded sheepishly, not daring to look his captain in the eye. Law hummed in understanding. "You didn't want to... what, worry me? Wake me up? Bother me with it?" An almost imperceptible nod. Meaning he was right on all assumptions. Did this count as insubordination? He went against his orders, but not for selfish reasons. In fact, if anything, he was thinking about Law's own good.

Before he could decide whether to punish Derek or not, Nadeen broke her silence with a critical eye over his frame. "To be fair, you do look like shit. The bags around your eyes are darker than yesterday. You're leaning your weight against the door without even trying to hide it. Paler than before, even with that totally unfair tan of yours. Seriously, you spend the better part of a week underwater. And even when the sub does come up for air, you only come out when you have to, unless you're on an island." Law stared evenly at her, trying to ask without words how she knew that. It was true, yes, but how did she know? She shrugged sheepishly in response. "When Cyrus babbles, he babbles."

Fair enough. Especially since Law himself tended to be Cyrus's favorite topic of conversation. Nadeen probably knew everything from his age to favorite color to his blood type. Sometimes Cyrus scared him a little... Just a little, though. Law flipped a hand through the air dismissively, not letting her admittedly impressive observation skills get to him. "I have insomnia. Can't sleep worth a damn on most nights. I'm surprised Cyrus hasn't already told you about it, considering the entire crew knows."

It took Law a moment to see the triumphant light in her expression. He understood just a second before she opened her mouth. "If the entire crew knows about it, then you can't really fault Derek for worrying over you. Everyone must've seen it was another one of _those_ nights for you earlier, when you told everyone to just let me sleep. So while, yes, he could have been a bit _gentler_ with me," she sent a scathing look to the sole blonde in the room, "he was doing so with your benefit in mind."

Everyone stared at her. Law wondered if she caught the hidden innuendo in her words. Nadeen's face didn't change, so she probably hadn't. He debated bringing it to her attention, but decided against it. As fun as her reaction would be, he wasn't in the mood. He sighed and rubbed his face, more to bring color back to it than out of actual aggravation. "Okay, fine. I won't punish him." Shachi and Penguin cheered while Derek breathed a sigh of relief. Nadeen leaned back in her seat, radiating satisfaction. Law brought their mood down by continuing. "_You_, however, are going to be on bed rest until I deem you fit. And if I have to handcuff you to the bed, I will. I'm pretty sure at least _one_ of these guys has them hanging around."

He gave both Shachi and Penguin a meaningful look. They waved their arms in front of their faces and exclaimed at the same time, "No way! We're not into that kinky shit!"

Law gave them an innocent look. Or as innocent a look as he could fake. He was pretty sure he heard Nadeen give a giggle before audibly swallowing it. "I didn't say anything about kinky shit. Why on Earth would your minds jump to that? Is there something you two would like to tell me?" Because seriously, with the way those two acted, he sometimes had suspicions.

The two jumped away from each other with twin exclamations of disgust. Nadeen pointed at them and gave an obnoxious laugh, looking like she was trying to piss them off. Law kept quiet at the display, watching the scene in interest. The four of them bickered playfully amongst each other, seemingly forgetting that he was even there. It was a curious thing, really. The way the men were treating her, even Penguin, was the way they would treat each other. Like friends. The more he watched, though, the more he understood. She didn't tease Penguin when he had one of those awkward 'foot in mouth' moments. She defended Derek when the other two started picking on him. She even let Shachi put her in a headlock, though Law noted he kept his touch gentle so as not to irritate her wounds.

Honestly, it looked more like she was a sister than a potential romantic interest. Especially when she asked Derek about his stitches. The blonde waved her concern away, much like Law had earlier about his insomnia, but his was more grateful and shy than Law's easy dismissal. "It's fine. Captain'll look at them tomorrow. He always looks at stitches every other day after they're given, since we all heal at different rates of growth."

The door to the kitchen opened, admitting Coryn with a steaming plate in his hands. Nadeen snapped her head towards him and her eyes zeroed in on the food, staring at it intently. "It's more of an early lunch than a late breakfast." the buff man explained as he put the plate in front of her, looking up at Law. "I didn't want her to be too full when dinner comes around, so I made extra for her to keep her stomach satisfied until supper." Nadeen didn't even seem to be listening, as she'd started to stuff herself as soon as Coryn's hand was a safe distance away.

Law chuckled as he watched her and nodded at his chef. "That's fine. Aside from getting nutrients and proper hygiene, her body needs to start regulating itself again." Nadeen paused in eating and gave him a curious look. "Getting food on time, going to sleep without being forced, etcetera." She hummed in understanding before diving back in. "As soon as you finish, I'll lead you to your new room."

Well, at least she didn't choke this time. Doing a spit take, however, was slightly more disgusting. Nadeen stared at Law, and he realized she wasn't the only one. Even his own crew was blinking at him, though Coryn was quick to narrow his eyes instead of blinking owlishly. "I'm getting my own room?" she blurted out, wiping the back of her hand across her face.

The doctor sighed heavily in exasperation. He couldn't decide whether her naivety was mockingly adorable or just irritating. "Yes, Miss Nadeen, you're getting your own room. You didn't think I'd let you occupy my infirmary for your entire stay here, did you?" She shrugged half-heartedly, eating much slower than before. "I had Jake clear out one of the storage rooms near my own quarters, in case you needed help in the middle of the night."

She flashed him a sharp grin, and Law decided he liked the feral vindictiveness in the look. She was happy about her indirect revenge. "Fucking. Awesome."

* * *

Pages: 8

Words: 4408

_**Me: Not much I want to say here... I'm sorry it took so long, though. Review, please!**_


	6. Another Piece Added

_**Disclaimer: Shiningheart of ThunderClan doesn't own One Piece. Eichiiro Oda does.**_

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Chapter 6: Another Piece Added

Nadeen finished eating rather quickly and sighed, rubbing her belly. "That was awesome... Thanks Coryn!" The blond muscle-man snorted in answer, but didn't verbally respond. He took her plate away from her and left the galley to go back into his kitchen. The redhead bounced out of her seat and stood in front of Law, a half-smile half-smirk on her face. "Ready to go when you are, Captain!"

Law's eyebrow raised in question as Penguin, Shachi, and Derek exchanged confused looks. "You don't have to call me Captain unless you join the crew, you know."

Nadeen shrugged at him and put her arms back behind her head, rocking back and forth slightly on her toes. "Yeah, I know. But everyone else calls you Captain, and I'd feel weird if I was the only one calling you by your name. Unless, you know, you'd prefer Captain-chan?" His eye twitch was enough of an answer. "So Captain it is then!" She gave a cheeky smile with closed eyes, so she didn't see Law's reaction. She imagined it was something along the lines of making a move to hurt her, but restraining himself. She did hear him leave, though, so she turned to the gathered Heart Pirates. "See you guys later!"

They gave their own farewells even as she left the kitchen and hurried to catch up with the Surgeon of Death. He hadn't gone very far, just down the hall. Law didn't look at her as he spoke. "You seem to be getting on with my crew rather well. Normally Derek annoys newcomers until they're about ready to throw him to the seakings."

She gave him a side-glance with a raised eyebrow. "Who says he didn't annoy me?" Law returned her half-glance before looking forward again. "He woke me up by literally kicking the doors in and yelling, and I quote,_ 'Nadeen! Time to wakey wakey!_" She included an exaggeratedly huge smile and throwing her arms in the air. The pirate captain shook his head with a snort at her. Nadeen dropped her arms and a scowl returned to her face. "And then he tries to tackle me off the bed, but I'm pretty sure it was meant to be a glomp and not an assault."

Law grunted and pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation. "So _that's_ what you meant when you said I'd have broken ribs to deal with. I was just planning on tricking him into telling me later and then reaping the benefits of his fear of me." She gave him a blank, disbelieving look and Law gave a smirk with a one-shouldered shrug. "I'm an asshole, what can I say?"

The look dropped from her face, dissolving into a smirk that mirrored his own. "Have fun with that. I only request that you don't break him. I haven't asked him about that stampede you mentioned yet. I still want to know what that was all about." They neared a staircase and she cocked her head to the side. "How big is this place? This is the first time I'm actually registering stairs."

The pirate captain waited at the top for her before answering. Nadeen hadn't even noticed she'd stopped walking to ask. She hurried up to meet him with a sheepish smile. Law was gracious enough to not say anything about it, though his eyes betrayed his amusement. "Four floors. The galley and kitchen take up the third floor, as well as some storage areas for non-perishable foods and engineering materials and things of the like." She nodded to show she understood. "The second floor is where the navigation room, infirmary, and various other unimportant rooms are. First floor has all of the rooming in it. That's where we're going. Fourth floor has all the engineering and mechanical things, but you won't need to go down there."

Nadeen nodded, committing it to memory. Or at least, trying to commit it to memory. She knew very well she'd probably forget it by day's end. Hopefully someone would give her a tour. Cyrus had only taken her from the infirmary to a bathroom to the galley. And she hadn't been paying attention to the path when she walked with Penguin and Shachi and Derek. "I'll probably be spending my time in the navigation room with Cyrus, then." Law gave her a sharp, flinty look. She didn't exactly hide the flinch that it brought to her, but she managed to ignore it. "Would it help at all if I said I'd be sitting down and resting the entire time?"

Law scowled at her and stuffed his hands in his sweater. Nadeen wondered if it was to withhold the urge to slap her upside the head. "No, it would not help. Cyrus wouldn't let you relax. Relaxing isn't just sitting in one place and having fun. It's letting your mind and body lose it's tension and not doing anything. If you spend your time with him, chances are your recovery rate will plummet."

She responded with a pout and a mutter while glaring at the floor, "You just don't want us around each other..." Half-expecting Law to be glaring and scowling still, she glanced up at him and faltered. He was looking away from her, mumbling words under his breath that she couldn't comprehend. "... You mean you actually don't want us bonding? Is that seriously the only reason?" His silence was about as telling as his death glare. This time, she didn't flinch. She threw her head back and started laughing. "W-What, are you worried about us g-gossiping about you?!"

He snarled at her and roughly grabbed her arm, dragging her down hallways. Nadeen allowed herself to be man-handled, if only because she nearly collapsed a couple of times from laughter. All the mental images she came up with involving Cyrus that could set the mighty pirate captain off... Stalking him through the sub, going through his trash, sniffing his laundry, watching him sleep... Oh God, her gut was going to fucking explode if she didn't stop thinking about this.

She didn't register that Law had dragged her into a room and threw her onto a bed until he pressed a pillow into her face, much like she'd done in the infirmary when she hadn't stopped laughing at him. It took longer than before to get the need for air, since she kept taking big gulps. The pillow smelled suspiciously like Law did, a mixture of musk and sweat and some kind of shampoo she couldn't identify. She'd never tell him it, but he smelled good. When she finally needed breath, she flailed her arms to try and knock him off.

Law was quicker, though. He dodged her limbs by backing away. When Nadeen looked, he was smirking condescendingly at her. She stuck her tongue out childishly after she had her fill of air. The captain chuckled as he walked away with the pillow tucked under one arm, and Nadeen took the chance to look around at the surprisingly clean room. The floor had the only carpet she'd seen so far, made of white plushy material that your feet would sink half-an-inch in. The bed she was laying sideways on had yellow covers and blankets with black pillows up against an elaborate headboard.

There was a desk on the far wall, opposite of where she was. There were loose papers on it, but folders nearby that suggested they were usually kept at least somewhat organized. To each side of the desk were two bookcases, but they didn't seem to have a lot of books in them. At least, there seemed to be spots where the books leaned to one side. Funny, she figured that he'd have more than that... Law must have seen where her gaze was because he spoke then. "Those are just the fiction stories I own. Everything else is in my office. Behave nicely and I might let you borrow one sometime!"

Wait, so this was his room? She thought he was taking her to where she'd be sleeping. A thought came to her, a ridiculous one that would probably get her killed for even saying it. But there was still some left over mischief from her messing with him, and she couldn't help but tease, "So we're sharing? I don't think Cyrus will like that very much."

She was expecting verbal retaliation, even another glare. What she wasn't expecting was for him to whip around and toss the pillow at her head with all the strength in his arm. It collided with her face and forced her half-way off the bed with a yelp. She scrambled to try and regain her position, but the neatly tucked blankets she was clutching came undone. When she fell to the ground, the blankets and sheets followed and covered her from head to toe.

-Law's POV-

Law stared in dumbfounded fascination as Nadeen yelped and fell off of his bed. It had been both instinct and reflex to chuck his pillow at her. Even after he'd yelled at her, glared at her, threatened her, she still mocked him about his navigator. It hadn't occurred to him that she'd fall off the bed. They'd both be lucky if her ribs didn't worsen. He let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding when she popped up, still covered in his blankets, and shouted, "Holy shit, dude, you've got a fucking _arm_ on you!"

He didn't reply right away. The sheets moved a bit, like she was trying to find her way out, but the movements were becoming more frantic by the second. Nadeen had somehow gotten the blankets all twisted around her and now she was having issues getting them off. He knew he should help her, but the sight was too damn amusing to just end it. Every grunt and curse she gave made his smirk grow wider until he had to hold a hand to his mouth to keep the snickers in.

One escaped, though, and Nadeen seemed to freeze. Slowly, she turned towards where he was. Though he couldn't see her expression, he got the feeling she was glaring at him. "You're laughing at me, aren't you?" It was more of a statement than a question. Just the bland way she said it made another snicker slip through his hand. "You are, dammit! You're laughing at me!"

Law forced his features into a serious face. He knew she couldn't see him at the moment, but it was more the principal of the thing. "No, of course not. My apologies, Miss Nadeen; I hadn't meant to knock you over." The mumble of _'bastard'_ just barely reached him, but he still heard it. "I would watch what I say, Miss Nadeen. Otherwise I might just leave you to fight against your bindings by yourself."

She immediately stopped squirming and stayed still as he walked forward. Since he could see the tangles better than she could, it didn't take much time to free her. He lifted a corner to see her pouting and glaring at him, a small pink blush on her face. The look was so undeniably cute that he had to pull the blanket back over her to avoid laughing again. This time he clearly heard her curse at him before she pulled herself out of the covers. Nadeen looked at them with a glare that could burn holes through the material before she sighed. "Sorry. I'll fix it."

Okay, this he wasn't expecting. Law stepped back in surprise when she separated the blanket and sheet. He absentmindedly caught the pillow when she tossed it at him and watched her make his bed. Normally Law felt he was a good judge of character, and that very few things could still catch him off guard. But so far, Nadeen has been throwing him curveballs at every turn.

When he met her on the marine ship, he thought she was proud and defiant. When she was telling him her story, she was quiet and compliant. Then in the galley, she talked back to him. She argued about her treatment and was stubborn. _Then_ she was playful and childish, teasing him about Cyrus and laughing at his misery. And when she'd been eating brunch while talking with Penguin and Shachi and Derek, she'd been patient and protective, like an elder sister humoring her brothers. And even before that, when she was listing the symptoms of his insomnia, she'd been observant and calculative. Now she was being helpful and apologetic...

Law tilted his head subconsciously while she worked. He'd told Shachi and Penguin earlier that he only brought her aboard because she was a challenge, a puzzle to be solved. He hadn't really known just how difficult she would be to crack. _'Just who are you, Nadeen?'_ He wasn't aware he was staring until Nadeen started staring back, already done with her self-assigned task. He blinked to clear the haze from his mind and impulsively asked, "Have you ever been diagnosed as being bi-polar, Miss Nadeen?"

She drew back from him, like she'd been startled by his sudden question. Honestly, he kind of startled himself. Then the redhead seemed to think about it before shaking her head. "No, never. It was tested, though!" She beamed brightly, like the possibility of being bi-polar was something to be proud of. "Nana had a behaviorlest, or however you pronounce someone who studies the human psyche, come examine me. He said that my mood just highly depends on my environment and who's around me."

He tossed that around in his head for a bit before deciding it actually made sense. She'd been with the marines for so long that her backbone had been a sort of safety net for her to fall back on during the mistreatment, which would explain the pride and defiance in her eyes. The subdued act was probably her reconciling with her freedom. She'd been with Cyrus before she started arguing with him in the lounge, and Cyrus could put anyone in the mood to argue. Each time she acted differently, she was surrounded by different people and circumstances.

There was just one thing he didn't understand. Law fell face-first into his bed and ignored her noise of discontent. It was his bed, dammit, she didn't have to remake it. He rolled over so he was looking up at her annoyed face upside down. "Explain something to me. If your personality depends on what's going on around you, why do you find such joy in tormenting me?"

Her expression changed from annoyed to mischievous in less time than it took for him to blink. "You reeeeeeally wanna know?" He didn't answer and instead waited patiently for her to answer. Nadeen made a show of looking around them to see if anyone was listening. Just as he was starting to get impatient, she lowered her voice to a whisper and said, "You look kind of cute when you're annoyed." He felt his eyes widen in surprise. It wasn't the first time he'd been complimented, but he hadn't been expecting it from her! "Oh look at that, you're cute when you're speechless too!"

Law snapped out of it and scowled at her. He felt the heat trying to build in his face, but beat the blush back. He was a pirate. Pirates did not blush when being called cute. "Oh, shut up and get out of here." He swatted at her half-heartedly and she zoomed out the door, laughing heartily the entirely time. _'That little...'_ He pulled his pillow over his face and groaned a little. He was still tired, and thinking about this would just make it worse. _'Maybe I can take a little nap. Someone will come get me for lunch.'_

-Nadeen's POV-

She stood outside the door to Law's room, trying to stifle her giggles before anyone heard. The last thing she wanted was for someone to discover her laughing right outside of their Captain's bed room door. They might think she was up to no good. Nadeen twirled around in a circle and ignored the twinge in her side. She hadn't let Law know that fall from the bed really did hurt, but nothing had cracked. She'd probably be sore for the rest of the day, though.

Nadeen found herself wandering aimlessly. Law had only given her the basic rundown of the submarine the Heart Pirates called home. Normally she would explore herself, get a hands-on feel of the place. But Law had made it pretty clear that she'd heal faster if she stayed in bed. He didn't want her in his infirmary, but she'd kind of pissed him off before he could actually show her which room was hers. He'd told her that it was near his room, but there were so many doors and hallways that she wasn't sure where to go. Law probably didn't want to see her so soon after her attempt at making him blush- which had been semi-successful, since he started to before getting control of himself! And no one else knew where it was.

The redhead paused before a slow, evil smile came over her features. Well, there was _one_ person who knew where she could go... "OH JAKE!" she yelled, skipping down the halls.

-page break-

Pages: 5

Words: 2885

Me: I'm kind of depressed at how short this chapter is, compared to the other chapters... A couple of things I want to address. One: Honor Among Pirates is now my top reviewed story! I'm so happy... -sniffles and wipes away tears- Seriously, I love you guys! There were EIGHTEEN reviews for that last chapter! Keep going like this and we'll reach 100 in no time! Would it be shameless plugging to say the 100th reviewer gets a special one-shot, if they want one?

Second thing. I want to write another One Piece story, but I'm not sure who to make it about. Should I make another Law-centric fic? Or choose someone else? Keep in mind that the only characters I actually want to write are Law, Ace, Marco, or Zoro. So those are your four choices.

There was a third thing, but I forget. Kind of sad, considering this is my own story and I forget what I want to say... I think it was about Law's blatent OOC-ness, but at least he isn't proclaiming his love for her after the first few chapters...


	7. Face Palms Galore!

_**Me: So, there was a bit of confusion last chapter. No, Law and Nadeen won't be sharing a room. He just brought her to his to shut her up. He didn't know any other way of doing that besides stuffing a pillow in her face. Why he didn't just take her to her own room and use her own pillow... I have no idea. It just kind of wrote itself out that way. XD DISCLAIMER, NOW! -throws down smoke bomb and smoke explodes everywhere-**_

_**Disclaimer: -coughs- Dammit, I told her not to do that... Shiningheart doesn't -cough cough- own One Piece. -cough- Crap, SOMEONE OPEN A WINDOW!**_

-page break-

Chapter 7: Face Palms Galore!

The Pirates of Heart gathered in the gallery for lunch. At one end of the room, Shachi and Penguin were taking bets on who would come out alive. Derek was clinging to the much taller Cyrus in an effort not to collapse in laughter. Cyrus had tears streaming down his face as he wailed about how proud he was of his darling Nadeen-chan for standing up for herself. In the center of the large room, Nadeen looked up with a cheeky grin into the eyes of Jake, who's face at the moment resembled a brick.

The redhead had been pestering and annoying the older man for hours, ever since she'd left Law's room. Jake was funner to annoy than Law, but on a totally different level than his captain. Nadeen annoyed Law because he was cute when annoyed. She annoyed Jake because he looked constipated when holding himself back from hitting her. It had become something of a goal to see how far she could push the middle-aged man before he became violent, hence the bets.

Most would be intimidated by the fire in Jake's dark eyes, reminiscent of the very fires of hell. Nadeen thought he looked constipated when trying not to hit her. It wouldn't take much more for her to push him off the deep end. "Hey, you think Law could put your head back together if it exploded? Because that'd be totally awesome." Law and Coryn would probably make her clean up the mess afterwards, but it would so be worth it.

A vein throbbed on his forehead and the angry shade of red appeared on both his neck and ears. When he spoke, spit flew from his mouth in his rage. "Yer on'y 'ere 'cause the cap'n allows ya ta be! Don' go thinkin' yer special an' can do wha'eva' ya' want'a."

Nadeen grimaced in disgust and wiped her face on a nearby pirate's sleeve, making him grumble but not protest. "Okay, one? Gross. If you're gonna keep talking like an illiterate imbecile, warn me so I can wear a face mask around you. Two, you don't have to worry about that. Law actually gave me explicit instructions on how to behave around all of you. These rules include, but are not limited to: no mauling, no maiming, no crippling, no killing, no injuring and no traumatizing. That actually reminds me, though!" She looked around the room until she found her target and said, "Oi, Derek! Law told me to ask you for a story. Something about a stampede?"

As soon as she finished speaking, every pirate in the room, Jake included, slapped their hands against their ears. Nadeen looked around in confusion, then realized that Derek's eyes had glazed over into a terrified stupor and his face had paled to an ashen white color. He gave a high-pitched yell, just like a little girl, and dived under the nearest table to curl into a whimpering, blubbering ball.

The redhead whined and rubbed at her ears, trying to get rid of the obnoxious ringing. Law could have freakin' warned her when he told her ask Derek. Well, then again, he _had_ say Derek screamed like a little girl. And she _did_ see the others cover their ears, so she really couldn't blame the pirate captain... As much as she wanted to, at least.

The door slammed open and another crew member ran in, eyes wide and frantic-looking. Nadeen hadn't met this one, but apparently it was the same whose pants she now wore. Sam was so far the only brunette she'd seen, not counting Cyrus. He had a geeky look to him, but in a cute way. He had brown eyes that looked like liquid chocolate, but they would look prettier if he didn't wear glasses. He had a smattering of freckles on his nose and cheeks that stood out against his naturally pale skin. Like the rest of his crewmates, he wore a white boiler suit. "The hell was that?" he asked. Well, more like squeaked. When Penguin had said he was the resident midget, he forgot to mention the man was more like a boy, only 15 years old.

Penguin waved from where he and Shachi sat. "Nadeen asked Derek about that stampede we told you about when you first joined, Sammy-boy." Sam sighed and rubbed his head in irritation while the mechanic duo looked at their guest. "Where'd you hear about that anyway, Nadeen? None of us told you, and Cyrus usually talks about Law to anyone who would listen."

Before she could answer, the captain himself came in. To Sam, he said, "I told you we didn't have to hurry." Apparently the younger man had been sent to get Law from his room. Nadeen hadn't been paying attention, or else she would have offered to go with him. Law looked like he had just woken up. His clothes were rumpled, and he looked more alert than he did earlier. His hair was mussed as well, and he was without his trademark fuzzy hat. Nadeen privately thought he looked better without it. Law turned towards her with a raised eyebrow. "And would you care to explain to me why Mister Jake's face looks like he's badly sunburned?"

She gave him a smirk of pride and raised her nose in mock arrogance. "That would be my handiwork. You kicked me out of your room and, since you already told me you don't want me being alone with Cyrus, I had to find _some_ way of entertaining myself. So for the past..."

A thoughtful pause, and Nadeen turned to look at the elderly man for clarification. He gave it without much prompting, a harrassed look to his posture now. "'Bout four hours. I've 'ad this damn demon wench blabberin' on 'bout things an' not shuttin' up an' pokin' me an' askin' stupud questions an'..." From there, he descended into nonsensical mumbling. The crew and Nadeen watched him curiously before unanimously and silently deciding to ignore him.

A surprised look came to Law's face. Nadeen wondered why, but he answered her unasked question. "I was asleep for four hours?!" She was the only one to give him a confused blink while everyone else nodded. He acted like that was an accomplishment or a shock. Yeah, he told her earlier that he had insomnia, but she didn't think four hours were all that big of a deal. "Huh... That's strange. That's more than I usually get per night..."

The specification was obviously meant for Nadeen. So he had noticed her confusion... Nadeen was about to respond, but the door to the kitchen swung open to reveal Coryn, glaring out at all of them. "Food's ready. And whoever set Derek off, you're an asshole and I should starve you for it." Everyone pointed at Nadeen at the same time, prompting her to give a sheepish little finger wave. Coryn stared blankly at her for a minute before sighing and shaking his head. "Dammit." It was all he said before ducking back behind the door.

The galley filled with laughter while the crew began to get their food. Nadeen, having already been told she wouldn't be fed until dinner, just sat at one of the tables. Shachi and Penguin managed to force Derek from his hiding spot and put him in a chair before scrambling to get their own food. Nadeen watched the stampede with an amused smile before squeaking in surprise when Law adjacent to her, at the head of the table. She tilted her head curiously, but he answered before she could ask. "I told Bepo to get me my food. I wanted to ask you a couple of questions I forgot to ask earlier due to... circumstances."

-LAW'S POV-

_'AKA, you calling me cute and me kicking you out of my room to avoid embarrassment.'_ Law internally grimaced at the thought. He was ashamed of himself for losing his cool like that. Honestly, he was a pirate. A pirate captain, with a bounty on his head! He was the _Surgeon of fucking Death_ and she made him blush like a bloody schoolgirl! His attraction to redheads aside, there was no reason for her compliment to cause him to get flustered. Shachi and Penguin would never let him live it down if they ever found-

Just like that, his train of thought screeched to a halt. Oh God, she hadn't said anything to them, had she? Yeah, he could always use the 'I'm the Captain so respect me' card, but he'd rather not use that on his oldest and dearest friends. He might be many things, but it was still a relief to have real friends who'd tell him if he was being a dick. He didn't want to compromise that by forcing them to behave. Law glared at Nadeen, demanding an answer without words. She answered with a smile and a shake of the head.

His fears put to rest, Law leaned back against his chair and gave an imperceptible sigh. He'd have had to kill her if she did, and he didn't want to resort to that until _after_ he found out what made her tick. Or maybe not at all. Even he knew better than to try and predict the future. He gave himself a mental shake to get his thoughts back in order. "These questions aren't so much about your powers and past as it is about you." Nadeen blinked her surprise. "Normally I write down the information of everyone I treat, whether they're part of my crew or not. But since I have a feeling you'll be sticking around for a while..."

Law trailed off when she gave a smirk. "Damn right. Like I told you, I owe you a debt. Until I save your life, you're stuck with me." Though she said it in a teasing way, the seriousness in her eyes spoke. She wouldn't go anywhere until she felt her debt was repaid.

He mocked a hum in thought before smirking back at her. "I _guess_ I could live with that. Just don't bore me, or else!" He didn't need to specify what the 'or else' was. She gave a cheeky salute with a wink, and Law chuckled low in his chest. "Back to my questions- thank you, Bepo." The polar bear had finally returned his Captain's food. The first mate gave a happy nod, delighted at the 'praise', before taking a seat at Law's right hand, opposite of where Nadeen was. He only took a second's look to see what his friend had gotten him and almost sighed. Fish. He knew he should have told Shachi or Penguin to get it...

A muffled giggle made him glare heatedly at his, for lack of a better word, guest. Nadeen flashed him an apologetic smile before placing her chin on her linked fingers. "So, questions about myself? As in personality traits, pet peeves, annoyances, so on and so forth? Or do you mean medical history, since you mentioned writing this shit down of everyone you meet and I doubt you even care much about how much you'll eventually piss me off in the future?"

Despite himself, Law chuckled in amusement and took a bite of the fish. "Just your medical history. Allergies and past injuries things of the such. I prefer to discover your inner workings myself." Queue everyone at the table pausing and giving him a look. Law rolled his eyes and sighed dramatically. "_Figuratively_ discover your inner workings." Then, under his breath, "Bunch of paranoid bastards."

Some of them chuckled before they all went back to their meals. Nadeen shifted herself so she was sitting sideways in her chair, facing him with a twinkle in her pretty blue eyes. "Cause it's totally not like you've given them a _reason_ to be paranoid, right?" she said sarcastically. Law rolled his eyes and broke off a piece of fish bone, chucking it lightly at her in retaliation. Nadeen caught it with ease. "Throwing food in revenge for being told the truth. Very mature." Okay, that was going to far. He let her know by glaring dangerously at her. Nadeen seemed to freeze for barely a second before laughing nervously. "Um... So, allergies... Um, I'm allergic to latex and lotion... Get a rash wherever it touches. Not a fun experience."

Second collective pause of the meal, only this time everyone stared at Nadeen. Law waited for her to realize exactly what she just said, and it only took a heartbeat. Her ears went the slightest bit pink and she scowled at the men, just daring them to say anything. A few coughed to cover up their humor, but Law didn't bother hiding his chuckle. "I'd ask how you discovered that, but I'm not entirely sure I care to know." The pink on her ears darkened a bit, and she glared at him in embarrassment. "When we get to an island, I want to take an x-ray of your entire skeletal structure. Other than your ribs, I want to see if you have any injuries that didn't heal correctly."

Cyrus took that moment to perk up from another table, where he'd been listening. "Oh, that reminds me Captain-chan!" Like usual, Law's eye twitch at the -chan. Why couldn't Cyrus be like everyone else and be too terrified of pissing him off to give him a nickname? Oh wait, that's right. He's an obsessed bloody lunatic. "The weather seems to be stabilizing, meaning we're nearing the next island. We should be there by the end of the day!"

Nadeen perked up immediately after the news and spun around to face Law. He spoke before she could even say anything, already having a feeling about what she was going to say. "No, you can't go on land. Not until your ribs heal."

She blinked at him in surprise before speaking. "Good thing that wasn't what I was going to ask." Law wasn't the only one to look at her in question. "I know I can't go. If there's trouble, I'd be just another person to protect. I don't like using my powers in a fight because it drains me more than just using my fists, and hand-to-hand is my preferred method of fighting. That and I'm still too weak from malnutrition. My bones would snap with a single punch." Well, at least she was sensible about it. She obviously wasn't happy about staying onboard the sub, but at least she understood why. "I was actually going to ask if I could send Cyrus and/or someone else shopping for clothes for me." She picked at her black shirt, which was actually Law's. "As comfortable as your clothes are, I don't think you want me sharing half of your wardrobe."

Hm... She had a point... He answered the question by nodding. "Very well. Once we reach the island, Mister Cyrus and Mister Sam can fetch you clothing. I suggest you make a list." She responded by leaping up with a squeal and giving him a hug that left him stunned. Nadeen didn't give him time to... well, do anything, before she released him and zoomed out of the cafeteria. Law turned back to his food before noticing everyone was staring at him. Even the men at the other table. "One word and I'll dismember all of you." he warned. They took him seriously and went back to their meals. Law smirked at the display of power he had over his crew_. 'It's good to be the captain.' _he mused. And it was. It really, really was.

-Chapter-End-

**Pages: 5**

**Words: 2603**

**Me: -sighs- Shorter than the last one. Next chapter, they're at the island. I have a poll in my profile for what Canon/OC story I should write next. If you want specifics as to the stories/plots I have planned, PM me for them. **


	8. Messing Around & A Change of Plans

_**Disclaimer: Shiningheart of ThunderClan doesn't own One Piece or any of the One Piece characters. She only owns Nadeen, Derek, Cyrus, Coren, Jake, Sam... Wow, you know, there are more OCs in this story than there are canons... Would that make this an OC-centric story?**_

_**Me: Does it matter? I'm going to keep writing it anyway. I doubt it, though, since it takes place in the canon-verse. ON WITH THE STORY!**_

Chapter 8: Change of Plans and Messing Around

Hours after lunch, all was quiet on the sub. The usual antics of the crewmembers had given way to serious work for all. Shachi and Penguin were down in the belly of the beast, working on whatever it is engineers of a submarine work on. Cyrus was in the navigation room, keeping an eye on the gauges and tracking the ocean currents. Coryn was in the kitchen, working on supper. Law was in his office, doing actual captain things and totally _not_ avoiding Nadeen after her sudden hug and departure from the galley.

No, really, he wasn't. He was actually going over the finances of what they could afford and what they needed. If worse came to worse, they could just steal what they needed and not even have to pay. They were pirates, after all; it was kind of expected of them. But Law didn't want to cause problems unless he had to. After all, some of the crew were still recovering from their last fight. He wanted to give them a chance to heal fully before antagonizing the marines into another battle. Whether he'd include Nadeen in that or not remained to be seen, though.

Actually, now that he thought about it, _would_ Nadeen fight with them when the time came? She wasn't a member of the crew, therefore she had no obligation other than her supposed 'debt'. Which Law honestly found a bit ridiculous. Pirates weren't supposed to be 'honorable'. Even when he himself was being polite, it was more a more mocking respect than anything. He didn't understand what made Nadeen feel the need to save his life in return for sparing hers. But then, he didn't really need to understand, he supposed. If she was willing to throw away her life for him, who was he to say no?

A knock at the door made him look up. Usually his crew knew not to bother him until after dinner, so by deduction it had to be the female currently on his mind. "Come in, Miss Nadeen." The redhead popped her head inside, blinking. "Everyone else that would come up here knows not to bother me unless it's for something."

She opened the door more and went to scratch the back of her head sheepishly. Since she didn't cringe this time, Law deduced her scalp was feeling better. "Should I come back another time, then? It's not really something all that important, but I was hoping to discuss tomorrow, when we hit land." Law waved a hand for her to fully enter, admittedly curious about what could be so important that she's purposefully seek him out. And besides, numbers were beginning to bore him. Nadeen gave a grateful smile before closing the door behind her and taking a seat in the other chair. "Okay, so, I was making my list, like you suggested."

She took a folded piece of paper from her pocket and handed it over to him. Law opened it to see two long columns. There was everything from hoodies to t-shirts to tank tops to shorts to sweatpants to jeans. There were underpants as well, but Law noted a lack of a particular item. "No bras, Miss Nadeen?"

A slight pink took over her ears, but she kept her composure while shaking her head. "Until I gain back my previous weight, I see no need for them. Until then, I can just keep the girls bandaged." Law hummed in understanding and put down the list, leaning back into his chair. "But, see, there's a small problem. I don't have any money myself to pay for this. Whatever cash I did have was taken by those bastards when they found me."

He saw where this was going, and a small smile of amusement overtook his features. "Ah, I see. Are you asking us to pay for you?" The pink turned slightly darker, and she looked down at her lap while nodding meekly. "This is quite a long list, Miss Nadeen. For what reason should I expend money on you?" He was going to do it anyway, really. But after all the crap she put him through in her short stay on his submarine, she deserved the small bit of suspense!

Contrary to Law's expectations, she didn't start begging or groveling immediately. She started to bite her lip, something Law noted she made a habit of when she was nervous, and fiddled with the hem of her shirt. He noted absent-mindedly that he kind of liked seeing her in his clothes. "Weeeeeeellll..." Nadeen drew the word out nervously, as if she was slightly worried over his reaction. "I could get the money myself... but it would include going out with Cyrus and Sam... on the island..."

A small silence came to the room. Law stared at her with narrowed eyes. He thought she understood that she couldn't go on land. She'd listened perfectly in the galley, and even listed the reasons herself why it was for her own good! So why would she risk angering him by even asking? To be fair to her, though, at least she _was_ asking. If she'd gone ahead with them anyway without telling him, he'd have locked her in her room and/or tied to her bed. He had, after all, threatened the latter during supper yesterday.

He turned the idea over in his mind. If she did go, he'd have to assign her a guard that wasn't Cyrus or Sam. They'd be too busy with the actual shopping to keep their sights on her the entire time. Her watcher would have to be more concerned with her well being than her clothes or what looked good. And they couldn't be too easily distracted either, in case she used that to her advantage and slipped away.

Nadeen wouldn't do that, though. She'd have no reason to ditch them, her debt least of all. Aside from Mister Jake, she hadn't had anyone be particularly unpleasant with her. And she'd seemed to find his behavior more amusing than anything. Law supposed he could send Bepo, but his bouts of depression counted as distractions. Even he himself would probably get bored with the job eventually.

-NADEEN'S POV-

With every minute spent in silence, the nervousness in Nadeen's belly grew until she was fidgeting in her chair. The longer Law deliberated over his answer to her request, the surer she was that he was going to say no. Honestly, she was rather surprised he was even considering it. There was no doubt in her mind that it would be better for her to just stay on board and be happy that Law trusted her enough to not lock her up. It had been that thought that had even spurred her on to ask him instead of doing it anyway. Not the locking her up part, but the trusting her part.

Breaking someone's trust was one of the worst possible crimes one could commit in life, at least to Nadeen. What was a crew without trust? Just a bunch of people sailing the ocean together. It was that trust, that bond, that made people nakama. Though she didn't have any of her own, nakama that is, she could sense the love this crew had for each other. At least among the people she'd met.

Shachi and Penguin were like brothers in the way that practically completed each other. Derek was like the little brother that you loved to pick on. Bepo was like the innocent baby of the family that didn't want to see anyone hurt and so took on all the responsibility. It would certainly explain why he feels the need to apologize all the time.

Law's explosive sigh took her by surprise. Enough so that she jumped. Nadeen half-expected Law to make fun of her for it, but the Surgeon of Death didn't even seem to notice. He was rubbing the bridge of nose with his eyes closed, like her request was causing him a headache. It was possible, but he could just as easily say no. "I'm going to regret this..." he grumbled to himself before looking her in the eye. Nadeen was taken aback by the intensity of the stormy gray stare. "Shachi and Penguin shall accompany you. They are to be concerned only with your health. If at any time you feel hungry, nauseous, or weak, they are to bring you back immediately. The same thing applies if there appears to be trouble, either with locals, marines, or bounty hunters. Am I understood?"

She tilted her head to the side a little in confusion. "Wait, you're actually letting me go?" His nod made her laugh once before slumping in relief. "Oh, thank God. I thought I was going to have to give Sammy a crash course in pickpocketing. That kid would be so damn nervous that he'd screw it up his first try." She shook her head with a little smirk. "And Cyrus would be way too damn conspicuous to make a good pickpocket."

Law chuckled before nodding in agreement. "I see Mister Cyrus as more of a mugger than a pickpocket. But you're right about Sam. He's been a pirate for less than a year. He hasn't even had his first battle yet." Nadeen gave him a questioning look. Hadn't the teenager fought with his crew against the marines? Either Law knew what she was thinking or he took a damn good guess at it, because he answered her without her asking. "I told him and Mister Coryn, plus a few others, to stay on the sub and watch for any marines attempting to board. It was mostly to keep him out of trouble."

A little mischievous smile lit up her face, and she teased, "Why, didn't want to see him hurt?" She giggled at the little twitch in his eye. "Aw, that's so cute! I didn't know you could be so sweet, Captain-chan!" The annoyance and irritation darkened and swirled through the room until the air felt like sludge. Nadeen knew it was time to leave and without really thinking about it: "Ten seconds?"

Law's response: "You have five." She was out of her chair and out the door before he even hit three. Nadeen counted in her head and, like a true gentleman, waited all five seconds. Then he roared out, "NADEEN, GET BACK HERE!" The sound of his footsteps banging on the metallic floor followed quickly after her.

A feeling bubbled up inside of her as the chase went on. It wasn't fear or anxiety; it was excitement. She knew that he wasn't happy at the moment. If he caught her, she likely wouldn't enjoy what happens afterwards. But that didn't stop her from laughing. It wasn't a mocking laugh, or even a sarcastic one. It was purely amusement. The sound echoed through the walls, and Nadeen heard Law's footsteps slow down. As if her laughter had caught him off guard.

That didn't stop him entirely, and soon he had sped back up. The few seconds pause, though, had given Nadeen enough time to speed around corner out of his sight. An open door caught her attention and, without looking, sped through it.

-Cyrus's POV-

The taller than average man sighed in boredom, staring down at the sea charts but not really seeing them. As much as he loved his job, and as much as he loved being a member of the Heart Pirates, he sometimes wished things were different. Life got monotonous sometimes at the bottom of the sea. Cyrus's head jerked up when he registered the sound of laughter coming closer to the navigation room he was in. _Female_ laughter. And right behind that, Captain-chan's angry voice. What was going on...?

The redhead in question ran into the room, the biggest smile he'd ever seen on her face. Almost immediately after, Captain-chan came running in after. Where the smile had been on Nadeen's face, there was an angry scowl on his. The two ran around the room a couple of times, Nadeen laughing while Captain-chan was yelling indecipherable threats and insults. What... What in the world...?

The two sped out of the door, leaving the room as quickly as they'd come. Cyrus blinked his eyes in shock, staring at the space where they'd just been. "What just happened?" he said to nothing.

-Bepo's POV-

The first mate of the Heart Pirates was walking around the sub, not really heading towards anywhere specific. He didn't have any place he needed to be especially. Maybe he'd go see if Captain would let him hang out in his office while he was working, if only for something to do. And if he wouldn't, maybe he'd find Nadeen and see if she wanted company. Maybe he could even give her a tour, since as far as he knew no one had showed her around yet.

Laughter and yelling echoed through the walls, and Bepo's bear ears flickered to better catch it. Nadeen was the only female on the ship, so that was her laugh. But the yelling sounded like Captain, and he almost never yelled. The quieter he got the angrier he was. So did that mean that he wasn't angry? A flash of red and black zoomed passed him, and Nadeen slowed down long enough to yell, "Sorry Bepo!"

Captain soon followed after the redhead without a word, who squealed and ran faster. Bepo scratched his head in confusion. "Humans are weird." he finally decided before continuing to wander.

-Shachi and Penguin's POV-

Shachi was grumbling, doing his best to ignore his best friend's snickering. Every step he took, his boots squeaked against the ground. Penguin's snickering increased with each squeak until he had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing outright. "Stop laughing, dammit! It's your fault anyway!" That just caused Penguin to lose it. The pirate howled with laughter while Shachi's ears turned the same color as his hair. "I swear to God if you don't stop laughing I'll-"

Penguin's choked out words cut him off. "Y-You'll what, sic Cyrus on me? Sorry buddy, there ain't shit you can do to make this seem less funny!" He fell back into laughter when finished, quite literally. He had to lean on his knees to stop from falling over.

The redhead gave an out of character snarl before tackling his childhood friend to the floor. The two wrestled on the floor for a bit, cursing and threats going back and forth between the two. Neither registered the laughter coming closer, only breaking from their own little world when a shadow flew over them. They didn't get a chance to look before a body tripped and fell on top of them, creating a little dog pile.

A little 'oomph' was exerted from all three of them, having the breath taken from their lungs. To their surprise, their new 'companion' was Law. He was panting in a way that made them think he'd been running, and they looked simultaneously to see Nadeen panting as well. She seemed to be glowing from a mixture of sweat, amusement, and mischief. They switched their attention to their captain and oldest friend, who seemed to be red with both anger and embarrassment.

Then they exchanged a look themselves before saying at once, "Dude, the hell?" Law pushed himself off of them and backed away, coughing a little to try and dispel the awkwardness. When he didn't seem forthcoming with information, they turned to look at Nadeen.

She giggled a little, still bouncing on her toes, and said, "My fault. I was teasing him in his office and made him chase after me. Now here's my question!" The bouncing abruptly stopped and she looked at Shachi with a deadpan expression. "Why the fuck are you soaked?"

Penguin started to snicker, but a glare from Shachi made him cool his jets. Instead, he gave a little finger wave. "My fault. A pipe burst near where we were working. Shachi here blocked the water, but he was already drenched by the time I could shut the water off." Law seemed to throw off his awkwardness long enough to give him a sharp glance, which Penguin interpreted correctly. "Oh, no worries, it's fixed now."

Shachi glowered a little and said, "No thanks to you, bastard. I had to work on it myself because you were too busy laughing about how I looked like a drenched clown." Penguin and Nadeen both gave a giggle while Law smirked a little. "Oi, not you too!" he whined with a pout.

The submarine jerked to the side suddenly, destroying the mostly light-hearted mood and making the four of them crash into the water. Nadeen cursed colorfully, cradling her ribs with a pain-filled grunt. The sirens started whining and Cyrus's voice came from thin air. "There's a Sea King off to port! It's attacking us!"

-END CHAPTER-

**Pages: 6**

**Words: 2815**

**Me: Okay, so I lied. They aren't at the island yet. I'm pretty sure this is my first cliffy, and it's not exactly the most anxiety-inducing. Anyway, in regards to the new story, the winner is another Law/OC story. So choose one of the following for me to write, because I'm just a wee bit obsessed with Mister Trafalgar and have multiple ideas for him.**

**A Little Taste of Freedom - Rated T-M - Romance/Angst/Adventure **

**Summary: She was born into slavery. Freedom had always been beyond her reach, and you can't miss what you never had. When she's suddenly thrown into a life where freedom is valued above everything, she's as lost as a newborn child. Trafalgar Law, her new captain, seems to have his work cut out for him in turning her into a pirate.**

**Similar Controversy - M - Romance/Drama**

**Summary: How can two individuals be so alike, yet so different? Both blunt and sadistic, both manipulative, both hating to be told what to do. Yes where he is ice, she is fire. Calm, cold, and cruel versus fierce, temperamental, and stubborn. Let the chaos reign.**

**Beggars Can't Be Choosers - T - Romance**

**Summary: When 22 year old Mikayla Jones wished for a more exciting life, she did NOT mean being thrown into a portal, being chased by the marines, and having this guy with a fuzzy hat doing questionable things to her insides- literally!**

**Between Heaven and Hell- T - Romance**

**Summary: Death has a way of changing people. Jade knows this better than anyone. She'd always thought she would go to hell when she died. In some ways, she did. In others? She'd barely begun to live.**


	9. Attack and Arrival

**Me: OMG ya'll have no idea how much I love you guys. I go to bed the other night, not expecting to wait up to any reviews for at least a few days and BAM, ELEVEN reviews! That was just in a few hours! Seriously, if I could, I'd give all of you hugs. Because hugs make the world go 'round.**

**Disclaimer: Uh huh... And while you're being a creeper, I'm just gonna be over here, doing my job. Shiningheart of ThunderClan-**

**Me: THAT'S ME!**

**Disclaimer: ... Right. She doesn't own One Piece.**

Chapter 9: Arrival at Island of Mist

Law snapped out orders after steadying himself. "Shachi, Penguin, with me! Nadeen, go back to the infirmary and get out the bandages. Do you remember where I got them from?" She nodded slowly, trying to keep her breathing shallow. The doctor noted the change in her breathing. Had the collision with the wall agitated her ribs more? He'd have to check after this newest crisis was dealt with. "Good. I don't expect us to get out of this without having use for them."

They separated then. Law resisted the urge to turn around and watch the red headed woman hobble away. If she couldn't handle something like a simple Sea King attack, then she was weaker than she made herself seem. Not that he was complaining, really. Bluffing was usually a smart move made by those physically impaired. It made them seem more capable than they actually were.

The three of them wasted no time in getting to the navigation room. The sub, in the meantime, rocked back and forth, like Cyrus was trying to dodge whatever was trying to kill them. Now that Law knew what was going on, he found it easier to keep his balance while running. Shachi and Penguin weren't as lucky and kept falling over, sometimes crashing into each other. If the situation were any less dire, the captain would have found the sight amusing.

He got to the navigation room first. Cyrus was at the wheel, trying hard to keep them all alive. His face was red and blotchy, showing just how much strain was going into the maneuvers. "Captain-chan, I'm not sure how longer I can keep this up!" he grunted. "This thing is determined, and I can't shake it!" The sub gave another shake, and a different siren wailed. "Shit, we're hit!" Cyrus cried.

Law cursed. "Bring us up as quickly as you can!" Cyrus obeyed while the pirate captain went to a small little microphone attached to the wall. He pressed a button and spoke to the microphone. "Derek, Orlando, find where we were hit and do damage control!" He stepped back from the PA system just as Shachi and Penguin came through the door. "Get down to the missile room. If the sea king doesn't breach the surface with us, we'll have to flush it out of the water. I'll deal with it afterwards."

They both saluted before turning and running out of the room. Law went to the large window that spanned all across the wall to see what they were dealing with. A lesser man would have gulped in fear at the sight. It wasn't a particularly big sea king, but it was freaking long. It had a serpentine physique, slender and flexible. It's scales seemed to be strong, and would be difficult for missiles to pierce them. Luckily, he didn't need for them to be pierced.

He was pulled from his musings when Cyrus spoke from the wheels. "We're close to the surface, Captain-chan. If you want to go on deck to deal with this vicious beast, I suggest you go wait by the door." Law glared at Cyrus, eyes gleaming dangerously. The crossdresser gulped a little, in both fear and admiration. The only ones allowed to get away with telling him what to do were Bepo, Shachi, and Penguin. Sometimes Coryn, but that was mostly because he wasn't afraid of their captain's wrath like everyone else. "Just a suggestion, Captain-chan..." he said weakly. Then he inexplicably perked up. Law knew he wouldn't like what had just occurred to his navigator. "In fact, you could stay in here with me until we get to the surface!"

Hm... Facing a giant, possibly deadly sea-king on his own and unarmed, or staying in a room alone with Cyrus... Law turned on his heel and walked right out the door. He knew without looking that Cyrus was pouting and sulking. "Rejected again!" The wail was loud enough to ring behind him, and Law cringed. If he was lucky, Nadeen hadn't heard that. God knows the last thing he needed was for her to have even more ammunition to use against him...

By the time he'd gotten to the exit onto deck, they'd already breached the surface. Law flung open the door with a dramatic flair he usually reserved for pissing off his opponents. Correction, his human opponents. Because this sea king was most definitely an enemy. Anyone that threatened his ship and his crew was an enemy, and would be dealt with like all of the others: swiftly and without mercy.

The sea dragon had fortunately followed them up. The weather wasn't all that great for a devil fruit user to be out alone. Mist hung heavy in the air like wraiths while the wind howled around him. The dragon roared at him, opening it's cavernous maw to display a row of teeth, as sharp and lethal as an assassin's dagger. He hadn't been able to tell the details of it's appearance while in the water. The scales were a dark, glittering blue that reminded him of sapphires while it's eyes were as red and fiery as hell itself. Ironic, considering it was a SEA king...

It roared a second time, and Law rolled his eyes with a nonchalance that would have a human adversary bristling in rage. "I heard you the first time." he drawled lazily. Bepo would be up any second with his nodachi. As if he heard his captain's thoughts, the polar bear emerged from the sub's interior with the bladed weapon in his arms. "Thank you Bepo. Care to watch the show?"

Bepo nodded happily while Law took his nodachi. "If you wouldn't mind, of course, Captain." he added, ears flicking in excitement. "It's been awhile since I've seen you fight just for the sake of having fun!"

Law chuckled and threw the empty sheath back at his first mate, who caught it with ease. "That's because I usually leave the fighting to you and the others. What use is there in dirtying my own hands when I can just have my favorite little minions do it for me?" Referring, of course, to Bepo and Shachi and Penguin. Because, really, they were his favorite minions.

The sea dragon gave a hiss at being ignored and splashed seawater over the deck to get their attention back. Law immediately felt his strength begin to wane, and stumbled a little to regain his balance. Bepo ran to steady him, teeth bared at the monster that had dared hurt his captain. He snarled something that the sea king apparently understood, because it growled back something that caused the first mate's anger to subside to surprise.

He looked to be about to say something when the sea king used it's tail to bash at the submarine. Law kept his balance this time, but Bepo fell on his behind from the tremors. The pirate captain felt the rage bubble inside of him. It wasn't a hot anger that some pirates fell victim to. Law's was cold and uncaring, chilling his heart to the extent that all he cares about it making wanted was to make his enemies pay. "Room." he growled. The familiar blue dome encased both the submarine and the sea king.

It seemed to be more intelligent than even most humans. As soon as it saw the danger, it dove underneath the water. Law cursed and waved his hand to dispel his Room. Bepo groaned as he stood, rubbing his backside where it had hit the deck floor. "Well, that went well." he grumbled, eliciting a glare from his captain. Bepo yelped, realizing what he'd said, and bowed his head. "Sorry! Sorry, Captain! I'm so sorry!"

Law grunted, prompting Bepo to shut up. "Great. Now it's up to Shachi and Penguin to drive it out of the water again." As soon as he said that, an explosion rocked the ocean and sent a geyser of water shooting into the air. The sea dragon didn't emerge again, but the sub jolted. Then only the dragon's head and neck appeared, and Law realized with a mixture of fascination and horror: they were on it's back. "Oh, this is going to be _fun_." Sarcasm thickly coated his tone, just as the sea king bucked like a horse.

The sub was sent flying. Law and Bepo had to hold onto the railing to keep from being flung overboard. It didn't help much when they suddenly crashed. Man and bear alike were tossed onto what seemed to be a sandy shore. The beast had literally thrown them onto the beach of the island they'd been due to arrive at. Both groaned and held their heads. Soft landing or not, it freaking hurt.

"Captain, Bepo! You guys okay!" They looked up to find the majority of the Heart Pirates crowded around the railing, looking down at their crewmates with concern. The shout had come from Derek. Law scanned the crowd with his eyes, looking for a specific mop of red hair. Nadeen wasn't there, and for some reason that made him worry.

Bepo answered for the both of them. "We're fine." He glanced at Law and asked, lowering his voice so that only his captain could hear, "We are fine, right?"

Law sighed and pushed himself to his feet. Nothing strained, nothing broken. Physically, he was unharmed. But he knew that wasn't what Bepo meant, the oversensitive lug. "Yes, we're fine. Worry about yourself more." Ignoring the way Bepo relaxed subtly, he called up, "Any injuries, take it to the infirmary. Miss Nadeen should have gotten out the bandages by now."

A chorus of agreements hailed and Law turned away from the submarine to take a better look at their surroundings. The sand beneath his shoes was saturated enough to seemed more like loose mud. The mist that had been on the ocean remained even here, though less densely. He could see a forest a half-mile inland, but no signs of civilization. No smoke from chimneys, no buildings towering overhead, nothing. Then again, with fog like that, it was amazing he could even see the trees.

A growl from Bepo made him look over. The bear had his nose up in the air and his ears were twitching. "Strangers. Coming from the north. I can't smell them because of the mist, but I can hear their footsteps. The sand is muffling them, though, so I can't tell how many there are." Better than no warning at all. See, this is why Law had made Bepo first mate. His animal instincts were easier to trust than a human's.

The Surgeon of Death located his nodachi and picked it up, just as a wordless shout drew his attention. Three blurry images were running towards him. Bepo dropped into a kung-fu stance, but Law held up a hand for him to wait. This could just as easily be concerned citizens who'd seen the crash. If there was a way he could twist this situation to benefit him and his crew, he'd do it.

The first thing he saw of the three arrivals were that they were all male, and seemed to be related. The eldest was in his late forties, early fifties. At least, the laugh-lines and gray hair made it seem so. His eyes were, strangely enough, an odd yellowish color. Not like Law could say anything, with his gray-colored eyes. The man had a beer gut, but his arms still had a good deal of muscle on them as well as scars.

The other two men looked to be about twenty years old. Both had the same yellow eyes as the older man, but their hair was pitch black. They too had muscles, though not as many scars. All three of them wore a uniform of gray overalls and black shirts, with the words Dock's Dock on them. One of the younger ones waved his arm and yelled, "Hey, is everyone alright? We saw the crash!"

Law waited for them to come closer before speaking. "That quite depends on who's asking." In one flash, his nodachi was at the neck of one of the younger men while Bepo was suddenly behind the entire trio, ready to attack at any given moment. Law allowed some menace to creep into his voice. "It seems rather coincidental for you to arrive just mere minutes after we land on a beach where there's seemingly no town or village. Care to explain?"

The two younger ones gulped loudly and looked to the elder for guidance. He met Law's gaze steadily and raised his hands slowly, showing he meant no harm. "My name is Dock. These are my sons, Michael and Mitchell." Each man nodded at his name. "We work at our family's shipyard only a little way from here. You had a run in with Chelydrus, our local sea dragon, didn't you? The ocean was getting rough, so we figured she was active again."

Law tilted his head and hummed in thought. Water serpent, eh? It fit with the sea king rather well. He took his nodachi from Mitchell's neck, ignoring the sigh of relief from both him and his brother. "Fine. I'll believe you, for now. I apologize for my animosity. The life of a pirate teaches one that there is never such a thing as too much paranoia."

Much like when he first met Nadeen, he was testing the men. The casual mention of his profession would show what kind of people they are. The two younger men startled, like they hadn't expected it, but they didn't look alarmed. On the other hand, Dock seemed to be expecting it. "Pirate, eh? Figured. Jolly Roger on your shirt gives it away."

Law was about to respond when a commotion on the deck of the sub made him look. Nadeen had appeared from inside. Oddly enough, Derek seemed to be scolding her. Each word he spoke made the annoyance grow on her face before she just walked away towards the railing. Before anyone could stop her, she took hold of it and leaped over. The fall wouldn't hurt anyone at full health, but Nadeen had cracked ribs that were possibly broken now. It was going to hurt her a hell of alot more than it would other people.

-Nadeen's-POV-

The pirates she'd just left on deck cried out and rushed over to the edge, either to watch her go splat or see if their captain would scold her for jumping. _'Jeeze, have a little more faith in me, would ya?' _she thought scathingly. Nadeen used his powers to slow her descent until she touched gently on the ground. Law and Bepo stared at her, Law's face blank and unreadable while Bepo's was surprised. "You can fly?" the polar bear questioned.

She waved his question aside with a nonchalant twist of her hand. "It's more gliding than flying, but I suppose to you it would be." She looked to the three shocked strangers. The older man was merely blinking while the younger two were openly gaping. "Unless you want to be eating mosquitoes for dinner, I suggest you shut your mouths." she said glibly.

They did so, appearing quite sheepish. Law was suddenly at her side and holding her wrist up by his face, the unreadable look still there. "You know, when I told you that we'd need them by the time the debacle was over, I didn't mean for you to go and hurt yourself more." Her arm, from her palm to just before her elbow, was covered in bandages. There was a bit of red there too, suggesting she had been bleeding.

Nadeen took her arm back with a nervous giggle and hid the offending appendage behind her back. Not like it did any good, since he'd already seen it. "Um... Yeah, about that... One of your cabinets... might need a new window..." He raised an incredulous eyebrow, silently asking how she'd managed to do that. "I might of, kind of, sort of... fell into it, when the sub tipped?"

It came out more as a question than an answer. The redhead tensed when Law grabbed for her arm again, but allowed him to reclaim it. He examined the bandage before nodding and dropping it. "The dressing is adequate. I won't need to redo it." Nadeen gave a silent breath of relief. She'd done it herself before everyone started drifting into the infirmary. Derek had been the only one to comment on it. "Tell me, Miss Nadeen. Were you always this accident-prone, or is it just a recent development?"

Her answer came quicker than her brain could catch up. "Hey, it's not my fault, dammit! The universe is like a sadistic slut: loves fucking with everyone and watching the chaos unfold." One of the younger man tried to cover his laughter with a cough, but wasn't fast enough before everyone looked at him. Nadeen smirked and crossed her arms, ignoring the way her ribs screamed at her for putting pressure on them. "Ooh, we got us an amusing bugger here. What's your name?"

He smirked back at her, stepping forward and putting a hand out. "Mitchell. However, pretty lady, you can call me Mitch." Nadeen shook his hand and he bowed over it politely. It was to her surprise and delight that he didn't try to kiss her hand. That had always somewhat disgusted her in the past. "It looks like you guys might be staying here for a while." Mitchell nodded his head to a specific part of the submarine. There was a tear in the metal that Nadeen hadn't noticed before.

Nadeen winced a little just looking at it. She was one of the sailors who believed that ships had souls and could feel pain. "Ooh, that's gotta hurt. You think the sea king did that, or when we landed?"

The older gentleman tilted his head while looking at it. "I'd say Chelydrus. I've seen wounds like that on a ship before. I'm guessing you came by the southeastern current, since that's where she usually lurks around."

Bepo, surprisingly, spoke up next. "She said we were near her nest and that our engine was disturbing her babies' naps." Law was the only one to not look surprised that he knew this. "I'm a polar bear. I can speak with other animals."

The eldest of the trio nodded his head. "A sentient, talking polar bear. Eh, there are weirder things in the Grand Line." Immediately, Bepo lowered his head and apologized. The humans all sweatdropped before shrugging off his weird behavior. "Judging from this distance, I'd say you have about a month to get it fixed. Log post takes only ten days to set. Until then, let me be the first to welcome you guys to Terra Nebila. Better known as Land of Mist!"

**-CHAPTER - END - **

**Pages: 7**

**Words: 3206**

**Me: Fun fact. According to Google Translator, Chelydrus is Latin for Water Serpent.**


	10. Untitled

**Me: Let's do an experiment. I want you guys to see how long it takes me to write a chapter. I'm starting this at 4:10 PM, EST, on Sunday, May 12, 2013.**

**Disclaimer: -rolls eyes- Can you get any more specific?**

**Me: Shush up and do what I pay you for.**

**Disclaimer: You don't pay me anything! I'm just a random voice you use to bicker and banter with.**

**Me: -glare-**

**Disclaimer: -sigh- Shiningheart of ThunderClan doesn't own One Piece.**

Chapter 10: Unnamed Because Shiy Couldn't Think of Anything

"Have I ever mentioned that I hate shopping? No? Because I hate shopping." The grumble came, not from Penguin or Shachi, but the benefactor herself. The two Heart Pirates on either side of her grunted in agreement before all three sighed and slumped on the bench they were sitting on. They, plus Cyrus and Sam, were all in a clothing store. Fifth one that day, as a matter of fact. All three had bags around them, though Nadeen had lighter bags per Law's orders. _"If she's carrying more than five pounds when you get back, all four of you are on laundry duty for the next month."_ Laundry duty was apparently something to be feared. The only bags she had to carry had a pack of socks and some female toiletries.

Cyrus stopped in front of them with a pout. He had his own bags hanging from his arms, but they didn't seem to impede his whirlwind shopping spree. "It's not that bad! You three are just being sourpusses." Nadeen stuck her tongue out at him childishly, prompting chuckles from the three men around her. "Anyway, Sammy found a dress that I think is absolutely adorable. You simply _must_ try it on, Nadeen-chan!"

Nadeen puffed an exasperated sigh and fixed a scolding glare at the make-up wearing man. "Just because Dock offered to pay for my clothes doesn't mean we can take advantage of it! What would I need a dress for anyway? That fancy restaurant that I'll never be invited to? HA!" They entered a glaring contest, Cyrus with his hands on his hips and Nadeen with her arms crossed. _"No_, Cyrus. Get what you've picked out already and we'll go back to the hotel Mitch put us up at."

Cyrus scowled in defeat and waved his hand, presumably calling the young pirate to the group. He turned back to the female with a pout. "You mean the hotel Mitch put _you_ up at. The only reason he's being so nice is because of you. Honestly, I thought Captain-chan was going to rip him a new one when he jostled your ribs by pulling you against him." Despite herself, Nadeen felt a sadistic smirk tug at her lips. She hadn't yet seen Law fight. If Mitch kept baiting him, though, she had a feeling she'd see it before the month was up.

Penguin rolled his eyes and stood, stretching his arms above his head until his shoulders cracked. "Trust me. If Captain and Mitchell do end up fighting, Mitchell will have more to worry about than getting an extra hole added to his body." Sam took that moment to appear from the mountains of clothes. He looked to be having a bit of trouble, since the pile of clothes in his arms was bigger than he was. "Need help there, squirt?"

Sam squeaked an affirmative, and the senior Heart Pirates took some clothes into their arms. When he could see again, the teen sighed in relief before smiling at Nadeen. "Do you want to look through these before we pay for them? Just to make sure you're comfortable with what you wear!"

Nadeen smiled while she stood and ruffled his hair affectionately. At 22 years old, she never had much of a chance of exploring her maternal instincts. Perhaps that explained why being around the boy sent them roaring. "Hon, if I wasn't comfortable wearing something, I wouldn't wear it. I'd change it into something else."

His eyes widened in surprise as they all walked towards the register. "You can do that?" She barely got out a hum of assent before he cried, "That's awesome! Can you teach me? How do you do it? When did you learn? Can you change anything into an entirely different thing, like pants into a shirt?"

Her giggle shut him up, a blush quickly lighting up his features. "In order of questions: If you want me to, rather easily, during my childhood, and I'd need more tools than scissors and a needle, but it's possible. Dye to change colors, fabric to add layers, bobby pins to keep fabric in place..." Nadeen took note of the surprise on the faces of the three older men. "I'll tell you the same thing I told Law. I was raised in servitude, taught by an entire household of maids and butlers to do multiple things to make my life easier. I can sew, cook, clean, and con a poker man out of his money faster than you can say 'cheater'."

They all gave her curious looks at that, but Shachi was the one to voice their thoughts. "Why would servants teach a little girl how to con a man out of his money?" She swore they all shuddered a little when her smile expanded to show the edges of her teeth. "On second thought, I don't think I want to know..."

Too bad, they were going to learn anyway. "It was actually Nana, the matriarch of the family, that taught me. She was the mistress of the house. I couldn't tell whether she saw me more as a junior servant or a granddaughter. I never got to ask her before she died." Her eyes misted over in remembrance. The others kept quiet, though Nadeen wasn't sure if it was out of respect or they wanted to hear more.

Or they could just not give a damn. Either way, she was going on. "I told Law that I left my home island to find my parents. That's true, but it's not the whole story. I could have lived the rest of my life happily on that little spit of land without ever knowing. It was Nana's last request, though. She told me, on her deathbed, that she wanted me to find my place in the world. I figure the first step to doing that is to find out who I am. Hence, the searching for my genetic donors."

She glanced over at all them. Shachi and Penguin had both cracked a smile at her light-hearted tone, but that was all. Cyrus had wet eyes, like he was trying not to cry. Nadeen gave it less than a minute until the waterworks came unless she changed the subject. Sam was staring at the ground with blank, expressionless eyes. There were memories in there, dark ones that shouldn't belong to one so young.

_'Oh shit... Distraction, distraction, distraction!'_ The red-haired woman looked around the marketplace they found themselves in. The mist had lightened as the sun rose, but it was still noticeably there. The town had first given the impression of a sleepy little place where not a lot happened. That couldn't have been farther from the truth. Vendors shouted, shoppers browsed, children laughed, and a band of musicians were playing on a corner. _'Oh, there's a good one.'_

She gave a loud, single clap. All four of the men startled and stared at her suddenly smiling face. "Ooh, I love this song!" She threw her two bags on top of Cyrus's pile and pranced forward. **"When cold wind's a-calling, and the sky is clear and bright! Misty mountains sing and beckon, lead me out into the light!"** she sang along, twirling around in circles.

Her ribs gave a painful twinge, but Nadeen ignored it. If she could bring her new friends comfort from their thoughts about her past, a little pain wouldn't stop her. They all followed after her, laughing at her childish glee. **"I will ride, I will fly! Chase the wind and touch the sky. I will fly, chase the wind and touch the skyyyy!"**

Nadeen thought, in a way, it described a pirate's journey. Out in the wilderness with only their wits and nakama to rely on, and quests for adventure. **"Where dark woods hide secrets, and mountains are fierce and bold! Deep waters hold reflections, of times lost long ago!"**

A small crowd formed around them, clapping along with the beat. Some children ran into the center and danced with her, giggling breathlessly. Nadeen picked one of them up and spun with her. **"I will hear their every story, take hold of my own dream! Be as strong as the seas are stormy, and proud as an eagle's scream! I will ride, I will fly! Chase the wind and touch the sky! I will fly! Chase the wind and touch the sky!"**

-Law's POV-

He watched, hidden in the shadows of an alley, as Nadeen danced and sung. He hadn't heard the song before, but he wasn't exactly up to date on the most recent music. Wasn't really able to, what with being at the bottom of the sea. If Law was being honest, Nadeen didn't have the greatest of voices. Her voice cracked at the highest notes and seemed strained at the lower ones, but it certainly wasn't the worst he'd ever heard.

And besides that, she wasn't really _trying_. He could see it in the way she smiled and danced like a loon. He hadn't been able to hear her quiet words to the others, but they all held expressions like someone had just stabbed their grandma. Nadeen had probably said something that upset them, and was now trying to cheer them up. Law would never tell anyone, even under threat of death, but he appreciated the gesture. None of them were prone to angst, even Sam, and it was damn depressing to see all of them down.

Nadeen finished the song with a grand sweep of her arms and lowered into a deep bow. The people around them cheered and applauded before dispersing. Law waited until she was back with his crew members before turning away. She'd be safe with them. That's when she suddenly let out a distressed cry, and he spun back around to find her clinging to her side, in particular where he knew one of the breaks was. Penguin had dropped all the bags he'd been carrying immediately and caught her when her her knees gave out.

The yelling started even as Law started fast-walking over. "What the hell?! Why didn't you say anything if it hurt that much, you idiot?!" Penguin yelled. He carefully lowered the both of them to the ground and pulled the red-haired woman into his lap, letting her rest without getting dirty.

Law almost chuckled when she gave the penguin-capped man dirty look. A completely unnecessary dirty look, considering the question was a valid one, but the expression was enough to draw amusement from the pirate captain. "It didn't hurt until I was stupid enough to bow at the end! Honestly, you'd think I'd learn from the last time I had broken ribs. Excess activity only aggravates the injuries further."

Shachi spoke next, and his tone was rather exasperated. Like Penguin, he had dropped his bags when Nadeen fell, leaving his hands free to throw themselves in the air. "Then _why_ go prancing around like a drunk bastard when common sense says to stay freaking still?!"

The Dark Doctor was almost directly behind her now when she blurted out, "I piss off the Surgeon of fucking _Death_ in every other conversation we have. What part of that suggests I have any common sense?" None of them said anything, looking over her and directly at their captain. "... He's standing right behind me, isn't he?"

He really should have been irritated with her blatant disregard for her own health. At the very least, annoyed. Instead, he chuckled in amusement at the dry tone she used. "Your powers of observation are astounding." he drawled sarcastically, smirking when she looked upside down at him. The look on her face was half-nervous, half amused. Both were understandable. "Did you feel a crack when you bowed?" He kneeled next to her and Penguin so that neither had to crane their heads to see him, reaching out to gently remove her hand from her side.

Nadeen winced as he did so, before nodding stiffly. Her voice was rough with pain when he laid a finger on the area. "Yeah. Bigger than the other ones. Either the crack got bigger, or it actually broke. In which case, I finally get to honor my word about you operating without anesthetics!" The forced cheer made him roll his eyes, and Law drew a squeak from her when he flicked her nose. She covered the offended appendage with a small glare on her face. "The hell was that for?!" she growled. Accompanied with the wetness in her eyes and the redness on her cheeks, it wasn't really intimidating.

Law gave her a blank look. "You're a pirate. You don't have to honor your word about anything." His tone matched his expression, not giving anything away. Nadeen blew him a raspberry, finally taking her hand away from her nose. It had gone red, both from his flick and her holding it. A smirk tugged at his mouth and he started humming Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer as he checked over her other injuries.

When he was satisfied, he took a look at her face. The look she wore was even dirtier than the one she gave Penguin. "You are so lucky I can't hit you, _Captain_." she griped with a pout.

He smirked at her. "I'm fairly certain you're not the only one who wants to hit me on occasion." His gaze went to Penguin and then Shachi. They nodded, not even trying to deny it. There'd be no use, really. The trio of pirates made it a habit to annoy the piss out of each other in the way only best friends could. Law motioned for Shachi to pick his bags back up. "Were you heading back to the hotel or the sub to put away your new clothes?"

Nadeen blew her breath out with a puff before answering. "We _were_ going to the hotel, but now I think it'd be best to go to the sub. You should probably take another look at the rest of my ribs to see if they're healing or if you should tie me to a bed to restrain me." The others around them shifted in a way that made Law grin wolfishly. Nadeen saw the look and realized exactly what she said. "Not. A. Word." she said warningly.

And like the bastard he was, Law didn't listen. "This is, what, the third, fourth time you've hinted something like that in my presence? Keep that up and I'm going to start suspecting you're coming on to me."

She scowled at him, but then it morphed into the type of grin Law himself gave when he knew he had an enemy beaten. "And encroach on Cyrus's territory? Yeah, hell no. Bitches be crazy when possessive." Law's eye twitched as everyone, even the aforementioned crossdresser, snickered at his expense.

But Law was never one to accept defeat so easily. He forced a chuckle, the strain on it clear even to his ears. "Mister Cyrus wouldn't mind. He just wants to see me happy, doesn't he?" The agreement was slow in coming, and Law gave his navigator an annoyed look. "_Doesn't he?_" Cyrus managed to contain his amusement enough to nod multiple times. "There, you see?"

Nadeen snorted in amusement, mouth twitching into a smile. "I'll keep that in mind. Now, who's carrying me and who's getting the bags?" She looked back and forth between Law and Penguin, who both had deadpanned as soon as she asked. "What, you never know if any more movement could just make it worse, right?"

Law rubbed the bridge of his nose in irritation before looking at Penguin. "Unfortunately, she's right. I want to limit her movement until I can look at the damage. Since you already have her, I'll take the bags. Mister Dock should have the sub moored at his shipyard by now, so we'll go there." All of them, even Nadeen, gave an 'Aye, Captain'. Penguin got his hands under Nadeen's knees while her arms went around his neck, and he carefully stood up to minimize the jolting. Law picked up the bags with her clothes while the others started walking. He had to jog lightly to get to the front, standing at Nadeen's head. "You might even get to see Mister Mitchell!"

To his surprise, her expression morphed into a scowl. "Oh, goodie. I get to put up with a love-struck idiot and pretend to appreciate it."

The pirate captain gave a mocking surprised look and faked a soothing tone. "Trouble in paradise already? That didn't take long. What did he do to earn your ire already?" He didn't quite manage to hide the amused tone because Nadeen flashed him an annoyed look. Seeing he was caught, Law dropped the act and snickered. "Just trying to help, is all. No need for the poisonous looks!"

Nadeen huffed and took her arms from around Penguin's neck to cross them over her chest. "'Trying to help' my ass. You know as well as I that he's interested in only one thing, and I can't exactly _do_ that one thing in my current state." Sam seemed to be the only one who didn't get it, as all of the other men chuckled. "Oh shush up, the lot of ya!"

-Chapter End-

**Pages: 5 on Google Docs**

**Words: 2876**

**Me: Chapter finished at 11:40 PM, EST, on Monday, May 20, 2013. So, this seemed more like a filler than anything. Nothing important happened except that we got a closer look at Sam, and a bit more background on Nadeen's Nana. Next chapter, though, things pick up. Thanks for reading, now review!**


	11. Tension Rising

**Disclaimer: Shiningheart of ThunderClan is a lazy, unmotivated, good-for-nothing bum who may sit on her arse all day, but doesn't own One Piece.**

**Me: Oi! I can too be good for something!**

**Disclaimer: -raises eyebrow- Oh? Care to elaborate on that?**

**Me: Yeah! I can be used as a bad example!**

**Disclaimer: ... -rubs temples- Just start the damn chapter...**

**Me: Shout out to Kiteria, who reviewed every chapter so far!**

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Chapter 11: Tension Rising

The group of Heart Pirates, plus Nadeen, stared at the door to Doc's office with varying faces. Law and Nadeen's expressions were blank, not letting anyone see what they were feeling. Shachi and Penguin were exchanging dark looks, while Cyrus and Sam were both baffled. There were voices inside, all recognizable and all yelling. Mostly Doc and Mitchell were yelling at each other, but the quiet voice of Michael was there too.

Nadeen hadn't heard the younger brother speak before. Where Mitchell had a friendly voice, Michael had a soothing one. Their respective natures suited them, Nadeen thought. And so she wondered why such an argument might come up. Doc was apparently going to retire soon. The sub would be his last job before leaving the shipyard to one of his two sons. Mitchell was the elder, and the business should have rightfully gone to him. In his mind, at least.

Michael didn't really seem to care much, so long as he was able to work with ships. They were more than just his hobby, or even his work. Fixing and building them were his life, and something he'd do until the day he died. Whether Mitchell was in charge, his father, or himself, Michael would be happy. In fact, he seemed to prefer one of the former.

That was why Doc chose him instead. Mitchell would sell the business if he ever got bored with it. He only worked there as a necessity. If he ever decided to leave the island, the shipyard was doomed. And since he'd gotten 'attached' to Nadeen, it was likely he might ask either her to stay or Law if he could join.

Penguin, who had let Nadeen down but still had a supporting arm hooked around her waist, muttered from the side of his mouth, "So it's all your fault." It earned him a hard elbow to the sternum, and his breath rushed out of his lungs in a rushed but quiet, "Ooph!"

The door in front of them abruptly opened and Mitchell ran out. He didn't even seem to spot the pirates, though he shouldered bodily between Penguin and Shachi. Nadeen grunted when Penguin instinctively tightened his hold on her. It wasn't a painful grunt, since that wasn't a wounded spot, but more one of annoyance. The grip he had on her seemed possessive, and that was kind of _against_ the image she was trying to make.

She elbowed him in the gut and morphed her expression into one of concern, just in time for Doc to step outside of his office with a disgruntled expression. "I suppose you heard all that, huh?" he grumbled with narrowed eyes. All of the gathered pirated nodded, waiting to see what he'd do next. "Can I ask you not to mention it to anyone outside of this group? I don't want it to get out that I'm retiring and leaving the business to Michael instead of Mitchell."

Nadeen looked at Law from the side of her eye. It was really up to him if any of them could speak, though she didn't see why any of them really had a reason to. The pirate captain looked at the old man in thought before nodding. "I'll have to tell my first mate, but aside from that, I don't see how it's any of our business." Law ignored the sigh of relief and went on with the reason they came. "I need access to my medical equipment. It seems a certain someone doesn't understand the meaning of the phrase, _'Keeping the hell still'_."

He gave Nadeen a half-annoyed, half-amused look. She stuck her tongue out at him before faking a cringe, trying to play the pitiable injured person. By the way Doc's expression softened, she guessed she was doing a pretty good job. "Alright. It's only the outside that needs maintenance, so allowing you in won't disrupt anything. Though, if I may ask, how did you get so injured in the first place?"

Doc's tone and face betrayed only honest curiosity as he led the Heart Pirates towards their submarine. Nadeen half-smiled, half-smirked. "I'm glad you asked, Doc! It's an epic tale of keeping strong in the face of adversity! A tale of such corruption and horror that I hesitate to even speak a word of it! Take heed of what you ask, Mister Doc. The story might very well invade your dreams and become your worst nightmares!" From all around, there came snickers and poorly concealed chuckles. The story was indeed horrible, but nothing as extravagant as one might think from the way she spoke.

The elderly man glanced at her for only a moment before smiling and facing forward again. "You fell down some stairs, didn't you?" It was so far off the mark that Nadeen wasn't the only one to blink. "Aye, you'd be good for Mitchell indeed. He pulls the same crap whenever he has a simple injury. Last week, he got a burn on his hand from forgetting his gloves for welding and said he faced a dragon all on his lonesome and that he barely got away with his life!"

Somehow, she could actually see that. He gave off that kind of vibe. Nadeen wondered if she should correct the old man and looked at Law from the corner of her eye, trying to gauge his thoughts from his expressions. She was surprised to see him doing the same, and they held a silent conversation that none of the ones around them noticed.

She tilted her head towards Doc and blinked in an inquisitive manner. Nadeen half-wondered what she'd do if Law didn't understand her intended question: _"Should I tell him the truth?"_

A small frown tugged at the pirate captain's face and he subtly shook his head while slowly blinking his own eyes. She was amazed at herself when she found she had no troubles deciphering his meaning. _"Not yet. I want to see how this plays out first."_

She nodded in acceptance before forcing a slightly sheepish giggle and redirected her attention to Doc. "It was actually my fault, really. I was making fun of one of the Heart Pirates and he chased me around for a bit before. We weren't paying much attention to anything and there were puddles on the floor, so when I went to go downstairs..." Nadeen trailed off, letting Doc draw his own conclusions.

-Law's POV-

Law admitted to himself that she was actually believable. Not that the story was entirely false, considering what had transpired previous to the meeting with the sea king. He wouldn't have believed her, of course, but that was because he was naturally distrustful of what others told him. Doc, bless his naivety, didn't seem to think Nadeen was even capable of lying. He laughed so loudly it echoed. "And who was it that made you fall?"

From the corner of his eye, he saw her flash a cheeky grin his way. "No one important, don't worry about that." Law wasn't sure if he wanted to scowl or smirk at her. He was still feeling rather playful, though, and so gave an exaggerated hurt face just bordering on being a pout. Nadeen put a hand over her mouth to hide the smile, and she quickly looked away from him. He wondered if she was trying not to laugh.

They walked for a bit more, and Law felt Nadeen slow down before forcing herself to keep up. He frowned and questioned somewhat sharper than he'd meant to, "Just how far is my submarine?" If he thought they were capable of it, he'd be worried about an ambush. He'd left his nodachi with Bepo back at the hotel they'd all temporarily moved to. The only weapon he had on him was a scalpel he always kept in his pocket. Some pirates were never without daggers or guns. Nobody payed attention to a tiny little blade when he carried a huge ass sword around with him.

Doc gave him a nod, like he knew and understood his worries. "What, you think I'll just leave a pirate ship blatantly out in the open? The jolly roger is painted on the freaking side. What am I gonna do if an official from the marines drops by, throw a sheet over it and hope they don't ask about it?" He shook his gray-haired head with a snort. "I had some of your boys put it in the back, where it can be hidden."

Nadeen sighed and stopped, making the group stop with her. Law saw the way she cradled her side and frowned. There was no telling how much damage was being inflicted on her injuries with all this movement. She was probably in greater pain now than she really cared to admit, but Law was starting to think she'd rather suffer than be seen as weak. He could relate, in a way. "How much farther is it? I was already carried once today. I don't want to ruin my pride any more than it's been!" Oh, that he could _definitely_ relate to.

The old dock worker gave a sheepish smile to the lady. "Not much farther, I promise. I didn't know your ribs were hurt too when I moved the sub." He gave a thoughtful pause before continuing. "Though, now it makes sense why Captain Law asked if you were accident prone."

The words flew from Law's lips before he could stop them. Really, since when was he this impulsive? "Which she is." Oh, right. He became impulsive when he first saw the face she made to his teasing. A mix between an annoyed glare and indignant pout. To keep up appearances, he continued, "You fell down stairs, sliced your arm open, and may have further cracked your ribs all in one week. You can't deny that, even if you're not accident prone, you have some serious bad luck."

The annoyed glare dropped, but the indignant pout was ramped up. "Do not. It's just your ship. It hates me."

Penguin grinned mischievously at her. "That may explain the first two, but what does the ship have to do with your possibly hurting yourself more than you already were?" Nadeen scowled at the engineer, who laughed out loud. "No response? You know we're right!"

She stuck her tongue out at him and said, "You two are mean. I'm gonna walk with Sam now." She slowed down to take the arm of the mostly silent 15 year old, who blinked in confusion. "Sammy loves me, don'cha Sammy?" Sam blinked and looked at Law, as he if was really asking for permission to answer. Law resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Even after two months on board, Sam still didn't know how to act like a normal person. Nadeen shook his arm to make him look back at her. "No no no, don't look at him! Look at me!" He looked pointedly away from her and whistled innocently. "Sammy!"

Everyone laughed at the pathetic if comical image she portrayed, even Law who usually just smirked in amusement. Cyrus picked her up gently and set her on his shoulders, since the ceiling was far above their heads. "How's this, love? You get to keep your pride _and_ get first sight of the sub!"

Law had to take a step back to avoid getting a crick in his neck when he looked up at her. Cyrus was freaking _huge_. He was a foot taller than Bepo, who was already one of the tallest on the crew. Nadeen's face had such a childish excitement on it that the pirate captain almost, _almost, _found himself giving a genuine smile. "Holy shit! Cyrus, dude, how tall _are_ you?" The only way it could be better was if she gave a squeal of happiness. Law was kind of glad she didn't, though.

The Surgeon of Death took this time to annoy her further. Really, it was becoming a bad habit. An amusing one, of course, but bad all the same. "The better question is, how _old_ are _you_? You're acting like a child sitting on a parent's shoulders in a carnival!" It suddenly occurred to Law that he didn't actually know her age. It didn't really affect the treatment, since she seemed to be close or at least near his own age, but it was his curiosity once again rearing it's head. "Actually, I don't really think you ever told me your age."

Nadeen leaned on Cyrus's head to look down at him. "Silly Law, you never ask a woman's age! It's considered rude among my species!" Law waited patiently while Shachi and Penguin snickered. The redhead giggled as well before complying. "22. My birthday was about two months ago. What about you?"

Since he didn't think it was important, he shrugged and answered, "24." Nadeen whined and pressed her forehead against the top of Cyrus's head. Law chuckled and said, "I'm honestly quite surprised Mister Cyrus hasn't already told you everything about me." The grumble that came afterwards was unintelligible. "I'm sorry, what was that?" Nadeen picked her head up only to blow him a raspberry and regain her place. Law decided he wasn't going to get anything more from her without her being immature, so he switched his attention to the amused-looking Doc. "What can you tell us about Chelydrus?"

The good-natured air around the old man disappeared to be replaced by a somewhat depressed state. "I can tell you quite a couple of things about it. Like how it killed my wife and countless others when it first appeared ten years ago." Even Nadeen perked up in interest. "We used to be a big tourist attraction. There are undersea ruins down by the south. People used to pay us to take them down to explore. My wife, Marcelle, was a tour guide. And a rather loved one at that! No matter how many times she visited those old buildings, she never lost her enthusiasm.

"It was a day like any other. Even better, in fact. The mini-sub she used to go to the ruins was full, sold out. We'd be set for months! They were gone for hours, which I didn't think was all that long. Usually she was gone all day. But the sea just kept getting rougher and rougher, huge waves slapping up against the beach. I was getting more and more worried as the day wore on. That night, I went to the southern beach, where the sub usually is..."

He took a shaky breath, as if preparing for the next part. The pirates let him collect himself for the next bit. But when he didn't continue, it was surprisingly Shachi who prodded him further with a gentle, "And what did you find?"

Doc took a big gulp and, when he spoke, his voice was strained. "The beach... There were..." Law looked at the elder man and saw tears were dripping silently down his cheeks. "Metal scraps. From the sub. I recognized the logo on one of them. The ocean... It was stained red that day. Marcelle, the driver, and everyone that had left that day... All gone." Though his shoulders shook, Doc made no noise. They all watched him, but none stepped forward to comfort. "I'm sorry." Doc wiped his face with the sleeve of his shirt. "I just... I still haven't gotten over it, after all these years."

"You wouldn't." It took a moment for Law to understand where the words were coming from. To his surprise, it was Sam. Everyone, even Doc, turned to look at him in shock. But the young one turned away to avoid looking at any of them. The weight behind the words made it sound like someone much older was speaking. "That kind of pain never goes away. It proves that, even now, you still love her. You haven't forgotten about her. And that's the only thing you can do; remember her. Remember her laugh, her smile, all the good and bad times you went together. Doing that... Well..."

He turned to look at everyone again, the smile on his face soft and understanding. "It's like she's still here, right?" No one responded, and Sam turned to his captain with that same smile on his face. "I'm gonna scout ahead." Law didn't argue and instead nodded, watching along with everyone else as the young pirate ran ahead.

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**Words: 2710**

**Pages: 5**

**Me: Okay, so it wasn't all that actiony. But it was still heavy, right? Thanks for reading, now review!**


	12. Crossing The Line

**Disclaimer: Shiningheart doesn't own One Piece.**

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Chapter 12: A Line is Crossed

"Stop being such a child! Hold still!" Another yelp escaped from Nadeen when Law ran a hand over her ribs. Honestly, he wasn't even pressing hard! He just wanted to see if she'd broken her rib clear through or not. The way she was acting, he might have been trying to break them himself! Maybe he should, just to show her how much it really hurts! "Dammit Nadeen, I will sedate you if I have to!" At least that seemed to do the trick. Though she pouted and looked away from him, she at least had stopped squirming. "Finally!"

She scowled at him, which Law dutifully ignored. Then she went back to sulking. "I wouldn't squirm if you'd stop fucking touching my ribs! They fucking hurt, dammit!" Law rolled his eyes, not bothering to hide them from view. Then Nadeen started mumbling underneath her breath, and Law distinctly heard the words, "stupid", "scalpel", and "up his ass". It wasn't the first time he'd heard the threat, but something about it coming from Nadeen made him smile in amusement. She dropped the muttering in favor of a sigh and looked at him tiredly. "Did you at least get the herbs while you were out? I'm tired now and want to take a nap."

Nadeen was actually looking rather exhausted. Her shoulders were slumped and her eyes look a second too long to open back up after blinking. Law felt himself softening before mentally shaking himself. The redhead brought out more emotions in him than he was comfortable with. "You're lucky you didn't collapse earlier than you did. I'd just visited the apotheracy when I spotted your little... show."

Her cheeks flushed red almost immediately, and her voice pitched into a squeak. "Oh my God, you _saw_ that?" Law smirked and nodded, leaning on the wall beside the bed she sat on. Nadeen groaned and hid her face in her hands, keeping the pirate captain from seeing her expression. He could imagine it, though. "That's it. Give me your scalpel. I'm going to kill myself." He debated with himself. Oh, not on whether to give her a scalpel or not, though part of him wondered what she would do if he actually handed one to her. When he didn't give a response, Nadeen peeked out from between her fingers. Law didn't know what expression was on his face, but it certainly was enough for her to bring her hands down and eyes to widen. "Oh shit, you have that _'to kill this bitch or not'_ look on your face. The hell have I done now?"

Well, since she asked... "You gave me an order." The wary look dropped into a surprised one. "I don't like being told what to do, Miss Nadeen. _I_ am the captain. _I_ give the orders. Are we clear?" She nodded slowly, looking rather confused. At least, that's what Law thought the narrowed eyes and scrunched nose were for. "You look confused. What's so hard to understand?"

She started to fiddle with the edge of her shirt. This time, it was actually _her_ shirt. She'd changed as soon as they'd gotten to the sub. Now she wore a dark blue shirt that matched her eyes and brought attention to how pale her skin was, and shorts that went to just above her knees. She'd also finally gotten those socks she'd apparently been wanting. "It's just, well, this isn't the first time I've said something like that and you've never reacted that way before!" Did she? He couldn't remember. "And I didn't _really_ give an order. Orders are serious things that someone actually expects to be followed. If you'd actually given me a scalpel, I probably would have given an exaggerated gasp and ask if you were so sick of me already that you'd enable me to end my own life."

Law had no troubles believing that. In fact, he could quite easily picture it and found himself doing so, causing a small smirk of amusement to blossom over his face. Nadeen was correct, though, on both accounts. "Oh, trust me. I'd be much, much harsher if you'd actually really tried making me do something. It's just a future reference kind of thing." She hummed slightly in understanding as he pulled out the baggies of herbs he'd picked up. The last one he took out was capsaicin, which he held up for her to see. "This is capsaicin. It will take awhile to make the cream needed. If I start now, it'll be ready by tomorrow morning."

The groan his patient gave was comical, and Law had the distinct feeling that, if she were able to without causing herself more pain, she'd throw herself back against the bed. "That long?" she whined, sighing heavily when he nodded. "Dammit, does that mean I have to take another one of those drowsy pills? As much as I'd love the relief, I don't want to sleep another fifteen hours. You never did tell me if that was just a bad reaction to that shit or not, but I'll trust your judgement if you keep giving me them."

Well, didn't that just touch his frozen black hole of a heart? Even in his thoughts, the sarcasm made him feel better about the way it actually did kind of warm him to hear she trusted him. "I wasn't going to. I dropped off some cowslip," he picked up a separate bag to show her, "to Mister Coryn and instructed him to make you some tea from the petals. It's good for both pain relief and headaches. He should be bringing some soon."

Nadeen noticeably relaxed and nodded. Then she tilted her head at him. "Why do you call people Miss and Mister sometimes but not other times?" Law just looked at her, not comprehending what she meant with the seriously random question. She waved her hand mindlessly in the air. "Earlier, when you were scolding me for moving. You called me Nadeen. But a little bit afterwards, you called me Miss Nadeen. I'm just curious, because it seems like an odd habit to have."

Right, and ignoring your injuries for the sake of entertaining others is totally healthy. Law chose not to voice this specific thought and instead shrugged. "It was literally beat into me when I was about ten. I probably couldn't stop now even if I wanted to. And besides that, it's more of a mocking politeness than any genuine respect, as I'm sure you know by now." She nodded again, just as a knock sounded from the door. "And that would be your tea."

After Law's granting entrance, the door opened to admit Coryn, who held a teapot in one hand with an oven mitten and two teacups in the other. "Where you want 'em, Captain?" Law cleared a space wordlessly from the counter he was leaning against. Coryn set down the pot and cups while speaking. "Just like you said, Captain. Tea made from cowslip, mixed with honey and sugar to heighten the taste."

Nadeen got to her feet and walked to the counter Law was leaning against. At his raised eyebrows, she shrugged. "If I stay down, I'll probably fall asleep mid-drink and spill it everywhere." Law made an understanding sound and dismissed Coryn with a wave of his hand.

The tall man half-turned to leave, but looked at the woman. "Don't sleep through dinner, woman. I made something just for you with all the nutrients a starved person needs. And God help you if you decide to skip."

When Coryn left, Nadeen had a bead of sweat on her temple. She stared at the door the cook had closed and only looked at Law when he chuckled. "It seems you've gained Mister Coryn's respect. Feel proud; not many people can get on his good side so quickly." He poured two cups of tea and handed one to her. They drank in a surprisingly comfortable silence before sighing at the same time. "God, I needed this." he grumbled.

Nadeen gave a half-hearted smile. "Headache reliever, huh?" she weakly joked. Law smirked at her, but didn't answer verbally. When her cup was empty, she placed it by the tea pot. "So, what's the verdict on my ribs? Considering you haven't reached for your scalpels yet, I'm guessing they aren't broken completely."

He nodded. "The crack spread a little more, but it doesn't require surgery yet. Keep jumping around like a fool, though, and I can't guarantee that I won't be annoyed enough to take you up on your offer of operating without painkillers." She looked away at that with pursed lips, and Law chuckled in amusement. "I want you to stay in here for your nap. Penguin and Shachi will come by to check up on you. They know enough about broken ribs to know if any medication is needed."

Nadeen looked at him with a blink and a tilt to her head. "Not that it's any of my business, but where will you be if you're making your crewmembers making sure I'm fine?"

Damn straight it wasn't any of her business. Still, Law decided it wouldn't actually hurt her to know. She was tactful enough to not mention it to anyone. He hoped, at least. "I want to visit the southern beach, where Mister Doc mentioned finding the scraps." Nadeen's eyes narrowed suspiciously, but Law somehow knew it wasn't at him. "It isn't that I think he's lying. He believes what he says. But something about it strikes me as odd. Think about it; the ruins were supposedly their main attraction, more so than his shipyard. What would make a sea king, even one like Chelydrus, stay around in one place for very long?"

Nadeen crossed her arms thoughtfully, speaking her mind slowly. "Bepo said that the sea king was protecting her babies... But for her to have babies, there'd have to be a father hanging around. Doc didn't mention a second local monster, though." Wasn't where Law was going with his thought process, but also a good point. "If Chelydrus has been sticking around for ten years... Do you think something's keeping her here? Something aside from her supposed children?"

Law shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe. Maybe not. That's what I'm hoping to find out." She chose that time to yawn big enough that he heard her jaw crack. "Enough. Sleep. I'll be back by dinner and check on you then."

She rubbed her eyes and nodded, going to what Law had subconsciously designated her bed. "Yeah, okay. Do me a favor, though? Be careful. If you're gonna have your ass on the line, I want to be around to save it in case anything goes wrong." He chuckled and nodded, finding it amusing how she worried over her debt even as she was half-unconscious. She was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, if the snores were any indication.

He went about his usual routine before shutting off the lights and leaving the room. But he didn't leave immediately, slumping against the door. She'd been lucky the break hadn't been worse. The rib was dangerously close to puncturing her spleen. It wasn't a vital organ, but it would still require surgery if it was hit. Usually he wasn't in the habit of holding back anything, but she'd been so tired that she might not have remembered when she woke up and Law wanted her to get the full impact of just what her stupidity could cause.

The Surgeon of Death pushed himself away from his infirmary and walked towards the gallery. He'd choose someone to go with him, swing by the hotel to grab Bepo and his nodachi, then they'd go to the beach. The only person there was Sam, who was nursing a cold drink. Law couldn't be sure if it was alcohol or not, but didn't think it was his business. "Sam." The teenager's head snapped up at his captain's voice. "I want you to accompany me on a mission. Finish your drink and let's go."

Sam nodded eagerly and knocked back the drink in less than thirty seconds. He met Law at the door, leaving his cup on the table, and together they traipsed down the hallway. "Where are we going, Captain?"

Law didn't look at the younger man when he answered. "The hotel first. Then down to the southern beach. I want to find the place Mister Doc mentioned the sub scraps were at. And while we're on that train of thought," he looked at Sam from the corner of his eye, "are you alright?" Sam hesitated, and that was all the answer Law needed. "You know they can't hurt you here. I won't let them."

Sam nodded finally, a weak smile on his face. His left hand curled around his right bicep, and Law knew he was giving himself a bruise from the grip. "I know. It doesn't stop the memories, though. When Doc was talking about his wife, I remembered my mother." They left the sub and jumped down to the floor of Doc's Dock in unison. "I know I've said it before, but thank you. I probably wouldn't have lasted much longer if you hadn't taken me away from that life."

The doctor nodded his head. "I know. I was the one who conducted the physical, remember?" For a moment, Law pictured how Sam had looked back then. Bruised physically, too skinny for comfort, and mentally broken. He'd only just been starting to show personality a week before they'd found Nadeen. Honestly, it was amazing how quickly they'd bonded. He'd have to get the story from Penguin and Shachi later on what happened during their shopping trip. He glanced over to his crewmate, if only to reassure himself that that wasn't the case now. Sam had a blank look in his eye, and Law knew he only had about thirty seconds before he regressed. "So tell me, what do you think of Miss Nadeen?"

Sam startled slightly, and life came back into his eyes. "I'm sorry, Captain. What did you say?" Law usually didn't like repeating himself, but he wanted to distract Sam from wherever his thoughts had led him. So, though he frowned, he did repeat himself. "She's weird."

It was said so bluntly that Law chuckled. "Everyone is weird in their own ways, Sam. Need I remind you that Derek has a 'secret' collection of colorful rocks? Or that Penguin has a penchant for remembering the women his crewmates have spent the night with? Or that Shachi does baby talk to the submarine when he's working on the piping and engines? Or that-"

He was interrupted by the younger male's laughter. Law was glad to see the smile. "Okay, okay, I get it! Jeeze, Captain, you really do know everything about everyone."

Law smirked and said in a haughty fashion, "Of course I do. I'm the captain; it's my job to know everything about everyone." They walked the rest of the way in silence, and they collected Bepo without any troubles. Law carried his own weapon for once, just in case they came across any trouble. No one tried to stop them as they went south, though they did get a few odd looks.

They went through the forest, trying to keep as quiet and undetected as possible. Law and Sam were naturals at it. Bepo had... a bit more difficulties. "Ow ow ow ow ow ow." He leaned on a tree and pulled a bare foot up to rub at the sore heel. Stones and sticks were uncomfortable to walk on. "What are we looking for anyway, Captain?" he asked.

Said captain sighed. This was the third time in ten minutes Bepo had had to stop. Really, they had to find him some shoes that fit. "I'll know it when I see it. Something felt off about Mister Doc's story. I'm hoping to find some clues at the south beach." _'If we ever get there.'_ He knew better than to say it out loud, though. Bepo would just get depressed and apologize over and over again. Don't get him wrong, he loved the bear. But sometimes, Law had to resist the urge to whack him with his nodachi. "I'm going ahead. Sam, stay with Bepo. He can track me when he's ready to move on."

Both ignored the almost immediate apology from the first mate. Sam settled down on the floor next to Bepo in answer and Law moved on. He'd been walked for barely five minutes when an unexpected flash of white, covered in ivy vines and dust, caught his attention. Law used the scalpel he kept strapped to his shin at all times and cut away the ivy, careful not to touch it with his hands, and used the sleeve of his hoodie to wipe the dust off. "Danger, do not enter. Violators, you've been warned."

He allowed an amused smile to come to the surface. The sign was old, probably put up ten years ago when Chelyrus first appeared. All it did was stir his curiosity more. A rustling behind him made him grip his nodachi, but it was only Bepo and Sam. They both read the sign when Law moved away from it and Sam sighed heavily. "Would it be a stupid question to ask if we're really going on?" Both captain and first mate nodded. "I figured. Just had to ask."

The group moved on after that, not sparing the warning even a second glance. Even Bepo was moving more carefully. Law held a hand up to stop them at the bottom of a hill and lowered himself into a kneeling crouch. His instincts were screaming at him that something was wrong. If it made his gut churn, Bepo must have been feeling it twice as bad. His ears and nose were both twitching, and he seemed to be almost unaware of his lip curling into a silent snarl. "Keep low. Whatever's on the other side of the hill, we don't want to attract attention."

They both nodded and got down on their bellies. Law led the slightly undignified crawl upwards and just barely peeked over the top. What he saw made his stomach twist in anger and his fists to clench. Bepo and Sam were speechless, and Sam was pale to the point of looking like Bepo. "Back to the sub. Now." Law growled.

-Nadeen's POV-

She was woken up by the sound of the door opening. Law must have come back. She listened to the person's breathing, but something felt wrong. Law's breathing was hushed, steady, and soothing. She shouldn't have been _able_ to hear Law's breathing unless he wanted her to, and she couldn't think of a reason he would want her to. It might have been Penguin or Shachi; Law had mentioned ordering them to check on her. _'Yeah, it's probably them. No reason to worry.'_

But that gut feeling wouldn't go away. Especially when the person took slow, methodical steps towards her bed. Like they didn't want to be heard. Nadeen's eyes popped open and she opened her mouth to scream, but a cloth was quickly put over her mouth and nose. _'Chloroform!'_ It was her last thought before the drug did it's work, and she descended into darkness.

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**Pages: 6**

**Words: 3662**

**Me: Mwahaha, how's THAT for a cliff hanger?! XDD Thanks for reading, now it's time to review! Feel free to threaten me with angry words for the long wait as well. I'm sorry it took so long; I started another One Piece story and that's been kind of taking my attention. And no, that's totally not self-advertising. Psh, whatever gave you that idea?**


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